Daily Devotionals

John 1:40-42 reads, "Andrew...first found his own brother Simon and said to him, 'We have found the Messiah'...And he brought him to Jesus."   In the early days of ministry, Billy Graham wanted to mobilize local Christians to bring their unsaved friends and relatives...

Philippians 3:13 reads, "Forgetting those things which are behind...[reach] forward to those things which are ahead."   Whatever your past may have been, God has a better future in mind for you. But before you can "reach" for it, you must forgive the people who've...

Genesis 3:13 reads, "The woman said, 'The serpent deceived me.'"   Adam told God, "Eve made me do it." And Eve told God, "The devil made me do it." Excuse-making and blame-placing are built into our DNA, and until you get beyond them you'll never make progress or find...

Genesis 3:12 reads, "The man said, 'The woman...gave me some fruit...and I ate it.'"   The story of Adam and Eve's failure teaches us two important lessons about God:   1) He won't accept your excuses. 2) He won't let you blame other people.   He insists that you take...

Matthew 25:32 reads, "He will separate the people as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats."   Jesus describes the judgment day in these words: "All the nations will be gathered in his presence, and He will separate the people as a shepherd separates the sheep...

James 3:6 reads, "The tongue also is a fire"   On a windy day in March 1997, a father and son visited Valley Forge National Historic Park, where George Washington stationed the Revolutionary Army during the difficult winter of 1777-1778. The man and his son had...

Romans 8:33 reads, "Who can accuse the people God has chosen? No one."   Paul writes: "Who can accuse the people God has chosen? No one, because God is the One who makes them right. Who can say God's People are guilty? No one because Christ Jesus died, but he was also...

Revelation 12:10 reads, "The accuser...has been thrown down."   The apostle John wrote: "I heard a loud voice shouting across the heavens...'For the accuser of our brothers and sisters has been thrown down to earth - the one who accuses them before out God day and...

Isaiah 30:29 reads, "You shall have a song...in the night."   Why does the Bible say, "It is good to sing praises to our God" (Psalm 147:1)? Because when you express the promises of God's Word in your song, your faith is strengthened. The Great Depression of the 1930s...

Ecclesiastes 12:13 reads, "Here is the conclusion of the matter."   In the book of Ecclesiastes, Solomon talks about all the things in life he tried and found to be disappointing; the intellectual pursuit of knowledge, the physical pursuit of pleasure, and the...

1 Chronicles 4:10 reads, "Oh, that...Your hand would be with me."   Not only did Jabez have great ambition, he had a growing faith and a deep trust in God. He had enough faith to pray and expect an answer. He was like the pioneer missionary. William Carey, who said,...

1 Chronicles 4:10 reads, "So God granted him what he requested."   When Jabez prayed, "Enlarge my territory," he was saying, "Lord, I want more than I've got, and I'm asking You for it!" This man had great ambitions, and God blessed them. There are 3 common...

1 Chronicles 4:10 reads, "Oh, that You would bless me indeed."   Jabez prayed that God would bless him in three specific ways:   1) "Enlarge my territory." He had a dream of owning more land, and he asked God to bless that dream. When you stop dreaming you lose...

1 Chronicles 4:10 reads, "And Jabez called on the God of Israel."   In the book of First Chronicles, the Bible tells us about a man named Jabez. The first 9 chapters consist of genealogies, listing more than 600 names. And right there in the middle of all those names,...

1 Corinthians 9:27 reads, "I fear that...I myself might be disqualified."   Paul writes: "Don't you realize that in a race everyone runs, but only one person gets the prize? So run the win! All athletes are disciplined in their training. They do it to win a prize that...

Proverbs 17:27 reads, "A man of knowledge uses words with restraint."   It's not enough to have the right answers; you need the right approach. Good ideas and sound advice are wasted when you use a ram-it-down-your-throat approach. Wisdom means saying the right thing,...

Proverbs 24:30 reads, "I went by the field of a lazy man."   It is better to be short-handed than to hire a sluggard; better to have nobody than a lazy body. Evidently Solomon had suffered through a few sluggards on his payroll: "As vinegar to the teeth and smoke to...

Proverbs 20:4 reads, "The lazy man will not plow because of winter."   The sluggard sees an obstacle in every opportunity. Though he can't hold down a job, there's always a good excuse. The hours are too long, the pay is too little, the work is too hard, people are...

Proverbs 6:9 reads, "How long will you slumber, O sluggard?"   The sluggard never does today what he can put off until tomorrow, and he never does tomorrow what he can put off forever. His favorite work day is - tomorrow. That's why God asks, "How long will you...

Proverbs 6:6 reads, "Go to the ant, you sluggard!"   What exactly is a sluggard? Robert Hicks says, "Feeling we're entitled to things without being willing to do the necessary labor to obtain them makes us a society of sluggards."   There's one thing you'll never...

2 Peter 3:18 reads, "Grow in grace."   Every day you live you'll be presented with opportunities to "grow in grace." And you must always be open and receptive to them. A grandmother celebrating her 50th wedding anniversary shared the secret of her long and happy...

Luke 7:44 reads, "Do you see this woman?"   Luke writes: "Behold, a woman in the city who was a sinner, when she knew that Jesus sat at the table in the Pharisee's house, brought an alabaster flask of fragrant oil, and stood at His feet behind Him weeping; and she...

Ephesians 3:8 reads, "To me, who am less than the least of all the saints, this grace was given."   One day the Pharisees caught a woman in the act of adultery. The law of Moses was clear; she must be stoned. And the Pharisees were ready to do it. This woman probably...

Deuteronomy 29:29 reads, "The secret things belong to the Lord our God."   The Bible says: "Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding" (Proverbs 3:5). That Scripture is easy to quote but hard to live by, especially with tragedy and...

Deuteronomy 31:6 reads, "Be strong and of good courage."   Any time you attempt something for the first time, or something you've failed at before, or something you think is too big for you, you'll experience both fear and faith. They go together. One will win out...

Proverbs 27:21 reads, "Man is tested by the praise he receives."   The English word "flatterer" comes from a French term that means "to pat, to smooth, or caress." So a flatterer is someone who will pat you on the back with one hand, and in some cases, knife you in...

Philippians 1:29 reads, "For you have been given...the privilege of suffering for him."   Think of Gethsemane, the garden where Jesus Himself wrestled with the will of God. "Take this cup from me" (Mark 14:36). It was a reference to the cup of wrath. Jesus knew He'd...

1 Corinthians 10:31 reads, "What you do, do it all for the glory of God."   There are two "whatever" verses in Scripture. Both include the phrase "whatever you do."   1) "Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men"...

Isaiah 6:3 reads, "The whole earth is full of His glory!"   The distinction between sacred and secular is false dichotomy. All things were created by God and for God - no exceptions. Every note of music, every color on the palette, every flavor that tingles the taste...

2 Thessalonians 1:12 reads, "That the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you."   Bach composed 256 cantatas. Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring may be his most famous. Nearly 4 centuries later, it's still one of the most popular soundtracks as the bride walks down...