Daily Devotion - March 5, 2025

“Does he [the master] thank the servant because he did what he was commanded? So you also, when you have done all that you were commanded, say ‘We are unworthy servants; we have only done our duty.’” (Luke 17: 9-10)

The master doesn’t say to his servant, “You have the privilege of sitting at my table because you’ve done the chores you were supposed to do.” The master has every right to expect that his servant will fulfill his obligations without additional reward. 

So, if the master says to the servant who merely fulfills his duties, “Sit at my table,” that’s not so much a sign of the servant’s deserving as of the master’s generosity.  

Similarly, just because we’ve done the good works that we are supposed to do, that doesn’t earn heaven’s privileges. What secures our place at our Master’s heavenly table is the graciousness of his heart. That’s the message of the gospel of grace! His mercy, not our merit, assures us of God’s eternal care.

When we perceive how generous is God’s unmerited mercy, and how great is the privilege of sitting at his table in heaven – even when we have not done all we were commanded – then we respond in loving service without expecting to earn the favor that is only granted by his grace!

Prayer: Jesus, I look forward to sitting with you at the great banquet in heaven because of your mercy, rather than my merit! May that sure hope that your grace alone makes possible motivate my loving service to you today.

Daily Devotion - March 4, 2025

He made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, to be put into effect when the times reach their fulfillment — to bring unity to all things in heaven and on earth under Christ. (Eph. 1:9-10 NIV)

It’s been said that “History is His Story.” But how does the story of Jesus unfold across all the stages of time? 

The Bible says that the big picture of God’s dealing with humanity across history began with a good creation that was spoiled by Adam’s fall. Now the redemption of all of creation (and persons) is made possible through the blessings Jesus made available through his death and resurrection. 

Ultimately all things will be perfected under Christ’s future and eternal rule, and all who have trusted Christ to remove the guilt of their sin will participate in the blessings of that rule.

In other words, God has a plan! He didn’t give up on us or our world because of past sin. That means he won’t give up on you either. Despite your sin, God provided a plan for your forgiveness and for an eternity that is free from sin’s consequences. 

We grieve that sin takes such a terrible toll on our lives, but we still take heart, knowing that our Lord had a plan from the beginning that has been made possible by Christ’s gracious rescue. Your history never blots of the blessings of His Story.

Prayer: Heavenly Father, all of history unfolds your great story of creation, fall, redemption, and eternal perfection. Help me to live with confidence that this story is no mystery to you. As I trust in my Redeemer, who gave himself for me, make my eternity no mystery to me either!

Daily Devotion - March 3, 2025

You formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother's womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. (Psalm 139:13-14)

I love to watch the TV series Antique Roadshow. And I'm convinced that one of these days I’m going to poke around in my attic and find a Van Gogh or a Rembrandt. While I may not be a good enough art critic to recognize a masterpiece by its features, I hope that I will at least recognize its preciousness by the artist’s signature.

The Bible teaches us to recognize the signature of God’s handiwork on another kind of masterpiece of his making. Scripture tells us that a child in the womb is formed by God, a wonder of his handiwork. From the very beginning of its life, a child is God's masterpiece. That child is not a Rembrandt or a Van Gogh but a Jehovah!  

Every person is precious because, from the earliest stage of our creation, we bear God’s signature. We each bear God’s name because we are fearfully and wonderfully made by his amazing power and according to his eternal plan. 

Prayer: Lord, help me to realize that I am fearfully and wonderfully made by you and, therefore, am precious to you. And help me to see others the same way. As I encounter people today, may I treat them as priceless works of your art.

Daily Devotion - February 28, 2025

Here there is not Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free; but Christ is all, and in all. (Col. 3:11)

When Billy Graham started refusing to segregate his crusades in the 1950s, and when Promise Keepers made racial reconciliation for men a priority in the 1990s, they were echoing the Apostle Paul’s charge in the first century: We are all one in Christ. 

Throughout history, believers have been learning what it means to be united as one body in Jesus, our Savior. When we celebrate this unity, we are really celebrating what Jesus has done to form his family.

As our nation renews its struggle with racial injustice and ethnic prejudice, Christians have special opportunity to testify to the transforming realities of God’s grace by treating believers of different backgrounds as brothers and sisters in Christ. In fact, we betray the grace that gives each of us Christ’s identity if we do not treat one another as family.

Ultimately this means that receiving one another in love is not just nice but necessary to fulfill God’s purposes. We are not called merely to tolerate those unlike us in race or ethnicity but to recognize that without love for them we fail him.

One day those from every tribe, language, people, and nation will sing praises to our Savior. To prepare for that day, we are called to love brothers and sisters united in Christ today. This means that we must not only appreciate and welcome the gifts and perspectives of those with different backgrounds but confess that we need them. 

Prayer: Lord, thank you for making all believers one family in Christ! Help me share the beauty of my identity by loving all Christians and confessing my need of demonstrating such love for the sake of Jesus’ witness in a hateful world. 

Daily Devotion - February 27, 2025

We have had earthly fathers who disciplined us and we respected them. Shall we not much more be subject to the Father of spirits and live? (Heb. 12:9)

If hardships are not punitive, then why does God allow them? The writer of Hebrews provides the answer: “He disciplines us for our good, that we may share in his holiness” (Heb. 12:10). 

God has no desire to harm his children, but in a manner similar to an earthly father, he wants to train us in character and conduct that will guard us from danger and lead to future blessings.

When a mother took her fevered child to the doctor, she promised the needed shot “would not hurt.” The doctor knew that was not true, and he spoke honestly to the child: “I may hurt you, but I will not harm you.”

God’s discipline operates similarly. It may hurt (all discipline does), but its design is never for our harm. Instead, God produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those trained by his discipline. He is a good Father, who loves us with the tenderness, wisdom, and power that are best for our spiritual health and eternal good!

Prayer: Father, I must admit that I don’t enjoy your discipline. But help me to accept correction or training from your gracious hand, realizing that your goal is to make me mature and complete in Christ.

Daily Devotion - February 26, 2025

Your testimonies are wonderful; therefore my soul keeps them. The unfolding of your words gives light; it imparts understanding to the simple. (Psalm 119:129-30)

If our reason for reading our Bibles is to keep God from being mad at us, then we’re reading to earn points that we can use to barter with God for his mercy. That’s not how he desires for us to use his Word.

God wants a relationship with us. He doesn’t want us to read a few verses every day just to get them checked off our “to-do” list – or to keep him off our backs. 

Attempts to convert Bible reading (or prayer, or church attendance, etc.) to obedience nickels that we can plug into a celestial vending machine dispensing heaven’s blessings, always fall apart when we remember that our best works are filthy rags to God. 

The only way we can have a loving relationship with him is not to view any spiritual discipline as a holy bribe, but as bread – God’s gracious provision to nourish and strengthen our faith in his heart.

So, the next time you’re reading your Bible, let the message of his love satisfy you, rather than trying to manipulate him!

Prayer: Father, help me to relish my daily bread of your care through your Word. Make our relationship sweeter, richer and stronger by the grace you reveal that nourishes my faith and binds my heart to yours.

Daily Devotion - February 25, 2025

Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart. (Psalm 37:4)

In the Lord’s Prayer, Jesus teaches us to pray, “Give us this day our daily bread.” It’s important to note that the Lord does not tell us to request strawberry shortcake or filet mignon, though he is certainly capable of providing such pleasures.

Praying for our daily bread is a request for God to provide our necessities not to be mastered by every personal whim or fancy. But doesn’t this contradict his promise to give us the desires of our hearts? No. God does not contradict himself. 

God’s promise to give you the desires of your heart follows his instruction to delight yourself in him. If he is our greatest delight, then delighting him will be our greatest desire. 

God will inevitably fulfill such desires when we pray for our daily bread from him. Jesus taught us that his provision of such necessities is what enables us to do the will of the Father (Jn. 4:34).  So, when we pray for daily bread, we are praying for whatever is necessary to fulfill God’s purposes. He is certain to provide this bread, and certain to fulfill our deepest desires to delight him in whom we most delight. 

When we pray for whatever is necessary to fulfill God’s will, and delight in fulfilling his purposes, then, he not only gives what we most desire but more than we can ask or even imagine!

Prayer: Lord, help me to delight more in your purposes than anything else in this world, knowing when I ask you for the daily bread to live for you, then you are pleased to give me everything needed to fulfill these desires of my heart.

Daily Devotion - February 24, 2025

Though youths grow weary and tired, and vigorous young men stumble badly, yet those who wait for the Lord will gain new strength; They will mount up with wings like eagles, They will run and not get tire, They will walk and not become weary (Isaiah 40:30-31, NASB)

This verse has never meant more to me than when ministering to a young man made an invalid by reckless driving. 

Though raised a Christian, his life was wild and his heart hard to God. So, I expected his affliction would further harden him, and I dreaded speaking to him after he awoke from weeks in a coma. 

For a while he fought his predicament with the rash pride that gotten him into his trouble. He uttered vain predictions of “beating this thing” that would permanently confine him to a wheelchair. But, when arrogance did not get him on his feet or drive away those who loved him, his heart opened to God. 

The young man who had stumbled so badly became a witness of the persevering love and eternal promises of God. His faith brought him joy that a wheelchair could not restrain. His witness to the promises of Christ soared above his afflictions and brought others to understanding of the gospel. 

 Though he had stumbled badly in body and spirit, the Lord lifted his soul and revived his spirit for God’s purposes that will be fulfilled in heaven with a perfected body and the presence of others touched by his life. 

Prayer: Lord, when I or those I love stumble badly, remind me not to give up on your grace that can lift us up to soar on the eagle’s wings of your heavenly purposes.

Daily Devotion - February 21, 2025

I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my eye upon you. Be not like a horse or a mule, without understanding, which must be curbed with bit and bridle, or it will not stay near you. (Psalm 32:8-9)

God’s precautions often come as practical advice that will keep us on the path of his blessing. And the principles of grace do not negate the importance of knowing how to avoid temptations.

Because we are human, we need practical instruction that helps us steer clear of dangers, avoiding moral pitfalls and heartache. Such guidance is not arbitrary legalism, but resistance to such guidance is just plain dumb. Ignoring the instruction of an infinitely holy, loving, and wise God is like being a stubborn mule that needs a bit to keep it on a productive path – the Bible said that, not I! 

Why does God give such tough talk? Because we have wandering hearts that may need some stern guidance. Since God’s love is not as fragile as our resolve to walk his path, he can be as practical and insistent as he needs to be: “Do not enter the path of the wicked … Avoid it.  Do not go on it. Turn away from it and pass on” (Prov. 4:14-15).

When we know that God’s love is behind such practical advice, our love for him grows and our willingness to follow his advice strengthens. We learn to trust the divine arms that guide us, and to return to those outstretched arms when our stubbornness has taken us down a wicked path.

Prayer: Father, help me today to follow the practical advice and wise counsel you have given in your Word. May your truth guide me from, and enable me to overcome, whatever temptations are in my path.

Daily Devotion - February 20, 2025

Let marriage be held in honor among all, and let the marriage bed be undefiled, for God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterous. (Heb. 13:4)

My wife, Kathy, and I witnessed the honor of long-lasting marital joy during a Valentine’s Day social of a church filled with young couples. Despite the youth of the church, an older couple sang to entertain us. 

The couple sang their own version of “Do You Love Me?” from the musical Fiddler on the Roof. The characters in the original musical sing, “After twenty-five years, it’s nice to know you love me.” But this couple looked into one another’s eyes and sang, “After forty-eight years, it’s nice to know....” 

When they hit the last notes of the song, the room exploded in a standing ovation. The crowd of young couples cheered an enduring love that had so powerfully encouraged us all. 

Kathy and I looked around the room with tears in our eyes, knowing the hopes and struggles of so many of the young people who were cheering. Their cheers for the long marriage were a longing and a prayer for similar grace in their own lives.

The reaction of the Valentine crowd echoed the words of the writer of Hebrews, who said, “Let marriage be held in honor among all.” He also speaks of the beauty and purity of the marriage bed that blesses Christian marriage, reminding us that God’s grace always blesses by leading us in the paths that honor him and one another. 

Prayer: Heavenly Father, thank you for the gift of marriage! May I honor your blessing by honoring my spouse, and by honoring your intention for others’ marital purity also. 

Daily Devotion - February 19, 2025

God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ — by grace you have been saved — and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus. (Eph. 2:4-6)

There is a chemistry of the heart that is activated when we grasp the magnitude of God’s love for us. It’s that love that causes us to desire him, and it’s that desire that makes us want to walk with him.

What sparks that “want to?” It’s not faith in what we do, but in what Christ has done on our behalf.

The great Puritan writer John Bunyan was accused of encouraging disobedience by talking too much about the assurance of God’s love. Accusers said, “If you keep assuring people of God’s love, they will do whatever they want.” 

Bunyan wisely replied, “No. If we keep assuring God’s people of God’s love, they’ll do what he wants.”

We love because God first loved us (1 Jn. 4:19), and such love is the chemistry of the Spirit that compels us to live for God (Jn. 14:15). We need not fear that grace will always lead to license. The grace that stirs in the hearts of God’s people will change their “want to” into what He wants!

Prayer: Father, your Word tells us that we love you because you first loved us. May your love stir in my heart so much that I want to walk with you and to live the kind of life that you want.

Daily Devotion - February 18, 2025

Your testimonies are wonderful; therefore my soul keeps them. The unfolding of your words gives light; it imparts understanding to the simple. (Psalm 119:129-30)

If our reason for reading our Bibles is to keep God from being mad at us, then we’re reading to earn points that we can use to barter with God for his mercy. That’s not how he desires for us to use his Word.

God wants a relationship with us. He doesn’t want us to read a few verses every day just to get them checked off our “to-do” list – or to keep him off our backs. 

Attempts to convert Bible reading (or prayer, or church attendance, etc.) to obedience nickels that we can plug into a celestial vending machine dispensing heaven’s blessings, always fall apart when we remember that our best works are filthy rags to God. 

The only way we can have a loving relationship with him is not to view any spiritual discipline as a holy bribe, but as bread – God’s gracious provision to nourish and strengthen our faith in his heart.

So, the next time you’re reading your Bible, let the message of his love satisfy you, rather than trying to manipulate him!

Prayer: Father, help me to relish my daily bread of your care through your Word. Make our relationship sweeter, richer and stronger by the grace you reveal that nourishes my faith and binds my heart to yours.

Daily Devotion - February 17, 2025

You have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God. (Rom. 8:15-16)

Long ago I read the account of a Christian who did not fully grasp the meaning of this verse until visiting a busy market in Israel. There a lost child ran through the crowd seeking his father by crying out, “Abba, Abba.” 

The account echoed sweetly for my own heart years later, as I followed Jesus’ route to the cross through the streets of Jerusalem. As the crowds pressed upon our tour group, an Israeli child pushed past me at knee level calling to the father who had gone ahead of us, “Abba, Abba.”

The ancient endearment for “Daddy” is as used today as it was in Christ’s, and it signals the same kind of love. When our hearts cry out with such longing and love for our Heavenly Father, it not only signals our affection but the work of the Holy Spirit in us. 

Our love and longing for God is the evidence that he has gone before us in life with the work of the Holy Spirit, transforming our affections. Our seeking him is the Spirit’s witness that we are already the children of his care and that he is ready to receive us. 

God not only provides his Holy Spirit to align the desires of our thoughts and prayers with his purposes, but also to confirm his love by our longing. We can only love him because he first loved us. Loving him confirms his love for us. 

Prayer: Heavenly Father, confirm that I am a child of yours by the love that I have for you as my Abba. May this love granted me by the Holy Spirit be a powerful witness that I am your child whom your heart is always ready to receive. 

Daily Devotion - February 14, 2025

One will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. (Rom 5:7-8)

Are you okay with God? Do you know God loves you? The question about whether or not a person is secure in God’s love is typically answered by an internal series of questions that range from, “How am I doing?” “Am I better than so and so?” “Was I good today?” and “What about yesterday?”

But none of these questions get to the heart of the matter. They simply show someone’s personal evaluation of their own performance or competency.

While everyone should be concerned about whether or not our behavior pleases God, the Bible makes it clear that our behavior doesn’t determine his acceptance—his mercy does. And that’s the good news of God’s unlimited grace! 

Prayer: Lord, thank you for accepting me in Christ—not because of what I have done but rather because of what Jesus did on the cross.

Daily Devotion - February 13, 2025

We know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. (Rom 8:28)

Paul tells is in Romans 8:28 that God works all things together for the good of those who know him. Paul knows we live in a fallen world. We’re going to face hard things. But God is working all those things for an eternal good. The Good Shepherd will carry us through whatever we encounter, because God is always working the end game. He’s concerned about your spiritual eternity and mine.

When we say to someone, “I want you to know that God is dealing with you according to your identity in Christ and not your performance,” those words have the power to free—not just from guilt but from whatever trials we may face.

Prayer: Father, I know I can have confidence in you in the midst of all of life’s circumstances, because you love me and use everything to accomplish your good goals. Help me to trust you no matter what I

Daily Devotion - February 12, 2025

Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. (Mt 6:9-13)

Have you heard the tale of the two monks and the horse? The first monk thought of a challenge for his companion. He offered him a horse if he could recite the Lord’s Prayer even once without his thoughts straying. The second monk took the bet and began to recite the prayer, but he stopped after two sentences. “You win,” he said. “Because even as I was praying, I began to wonder if the horse came with a saddle.”

I know that kind of distraction, and I bet you do, too! But I also know the grace and the mercy of the God. He forgives my wayward thoughts and gives me his prayer to help keep my mind and heart riveted to him.   

Prayer: Jesus, thank you for teaching me to pray! Help me to avoid distractions and to be riveted on you as I say your prayer.

Daily Devotion - February 11, 2025

You have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God. (Rom. 8:15-16)

Long ago I read the account of a Christian who did not fully grasp the meaning of this verse until visiting a busy market in Israel. There a lost child ran through the crowd seeking his father by crying out, “Abba, Abba.” 

The account echoed sweetly for my own heart years later, as I followed Jesus’ route to the cross through the streets of Jerusalem. As the crowds pressed upon our tour group, an Israeli child pushed past me at knee level calling to the father who had gone ahead of us, “Abba, Abba.”

The ancient endearment for “Daddy” is as used today as it was in Christ’s, and it signals the same kind of love. When our hearts cry out with such longing and love for our Heavenly Father, it not only signals our affection but the work of the Holy Spirit in us. 

Our love and longing for God is the evidence that he has gone before us in life with the work of the Holy Spirit, transforming our affections. Our seeking him is the Spirit’s witness that we are already the children of his care and that he is ready to receive us. 

God not only provides his Holy Spirit to align the desires of our thoughts and prayers with his purposes, but also to confirm his love by our longing. We can only love him because he first loved us. Loving him confirms his love for us. 

Prayer: Heavenly Father, confirm that I am a child of yours by the love that I have for you as my Abba. May this love granted me by the Holy Spirit be a powerful witness that I am your child whom your heart is always ready to receive.

Daily Devotion - February 10, 2025

For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it. (Heb 12:11)

When you’re traveling down the highway and you see a sign that says, “Don’t go this way,” you don’t get think to yourself, what cruel, hard-hearted person put that sign up there? You feel thankful that somebody cared enough to instruct you on the way to go!

The same is true with God. He doesn’t just train us, teach us, and then send us on our merry way! God provides signs through his correction and reproof that get our attention. That’s how we know we’ve gotten off the path. God corrects us because he loves us and because the path is the place where we are safe and cared for!

When you recognize God’s correction, be glad, knowing that he’s leading you back because he cares!

Prayer: Lord, help me to walk in the righteous path you have set in front of me and to notice your warning signs when I’m tempted to leave that path.

Daily Devotion - February 7, 2025

The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective. Elijah was a human being, even as we are. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain onthe land for three and a half years. Again he prayed, and the heavens gave rain, and the earth produced its crops.(James 5:16-18 NIV)

One summer, our friend Joan took her disabled husband, Tom, for a walk down the path of a nearby park. Tom, despite his wife’s support, floundered halfway through their walk. His strength evaporated, and he simply could go no further. With no other alternatives, Joan prepared to leave him in order to get some help.

In her desperation, she paused to pray. When Joan lifted her head, a motorcycle officer came down the path. “What made you come down this way?” she asked. The officer replied that the city council had requested greater police presence in the park, and today was the first day of this assignment. Joan knew that this police presence was actually coming from a higher authority. Heaven was honoring a Christian wife and extending grace to her husband.

Prayer: Lord, throughout this day, help me to turn to you in prayer, knowing that you hear me and delight to answer my prayers.

Daily Devotion - February 6, 2025

For even if I made you grieve with my letter, I do not regret it … because you were grieved into repenting. For you felt a godly grief. (2 Cor 7:8-9)

The Apostle Paul tells us in Second Corinthians 7:10 that “godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, whereas worldly grief produces death.” There is a difference between simply feeling bad that we have sinned and living a changed life after repenting of our sin.

Remorse means we apologize for failing to obey God, and repentance means actually turning away from sin. When we acknowledge that this turning away is something we cannot do by our own human effort, we receive God’s power to change, the power found in his grace.

So, take heart in the grace of God and his love for you. Turn your life around!

Prayer: Heavenly Father, I know that I sin in many ways. Help me to feel a godly sorrow for my sin that results in true repentance.