Daily Devotion - August 28, 2025

God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. (Eph. 2:6-7)

At times, God uses language intended to shake believers by the shoulders, so we face our new reality. 

Here the Apostle Paul tells us that God has already raised us and seated us with Christ in heaven. That hardly seems possible. My GPS indicates that I am still alive on this earth, seated at my desk in a building in a big city in the United States. How can I already be resurrected and seated in heaven?

Paul speaks in such startling terms so we understand the certainties of God’s grace. Our tendency is to base our identity on temporal realities – our locale, our sin, our shame. But present spatial dimensions or spiritual dynamics will not do. 

Living on the earth now does not deny that I am a heavenly being with citizenship there assured by Christ. I am no more a citizen of earth than I am a citizen of China when I temporarily visit there. 

My permanent home provides my identity. So also, my eternal citizenship is determined by my permanent residence in heaven. There I already have a seat with Christ, a home with God, and a destiny of eternity. 

Why does all that matter? Because neither present sin nor circumstances can undo my heavenly identity. My eternal residence marks my truest citizenship that this earthly sojourn cannot mar or remove. Jesus is mine and I am his forever!  

Prayer: Father, I’m grateful you have already seated me with Christ. Help me not to despair over temporal sin or circumstances but to be strengthened by eternal realities!

Daily Devotion - August 27, 2025

Do you not know that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? … And such were some of you, but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God. (1 Cor. 6:9-11)

At the Great Sand Dunes National Park in Colorado, the mountains of sand rise to more than 700 feet. And though the sight of the dunes is spectacular, there’s also wonder surrounding their formation.  

The sand forming the dunes is first blown through mountain passes, coating the lower dunes with what would seem only to be dirt. Then the Medano River, running through the dunes, washes tons of that dirt into lower mountain valleys. From there mountain winds from a different direction pick up the sand and lift it even higher onto the dunes from which it came. 

You would expect that water and wind would erode the dunes and whittle them down. But God uses the processes of washing and whittling to build the dunes higher and higher! They become more and more glorious as God works through natural processes to make his handiwork spectacular.

Through similar means, we are God’s handiwork. God washes and whittles away our sins, cleansing our souls and sanctifying our lives. But the process does not lessen our significance; it builds us up into the glory he intends for our lives!

Prayer: Father, thank you for washing away my guilt and whittling away the sins that beset me. As you build me higher and higher toward yourself, help me reflect your glory by making your handiwork apparent and appealing to others.

Daily Devotion - August 26, 2025

When Daniel knew that the document had been signed, he went to his house where he had windows in his upper chamber open toward Jerusalem. He got down on his knees three times a day and prayed and gave thanks before his God, as he had done previously. (Dan. 6:10)

The “document” was a death sentence for anyone praying to anyone other than Daniel’s pagan King. It’s signing was the bottom falling out of Daniel’s life.

What do you do when the bottom falls out? Well, if it’s a sack of groceries, the remedy is simple enough: you clean up the mess. But what happens when the bottom falls out of your life — your marriage, your finances, or your health?  What do you do when you can’t clean up the mess?

Believers are not insulated from life’s crises, and the bottom can fall out for us, too. Like everyone else, we can face crippling disappointments and disasters. We aren’t in heaven, yet.

Daniel wasn’t in heaven, yet, either. So, when the bottom fell out of his life, he fell to his knees in prayer. Daniel offered prayer and thanksgiving to God, seeking him for needed help. 

Perhaps, that sounds too simple but, during crises, it can be easy to forget God. Don’t forget. Before you send the text, write the email, or formulate the plans of your wisdom, pray to God for his. Depend on him and he will delight to answer as he knows is best. 

Prayer: Father, I know that life in a fallen world is full of disappointments and disasters. But in difficult times, help me to remember you and to follow Daniel’s example, coming to you in devoted and dependent prayer.

Daily Devotion - August 25, 2025

Do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. . . . Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? (Matt. 6:25-26 NIV)

Don’t worry, be happy. If a Caribbean singer with a big smile and a melodic voice sings the words, we smile. 

But if the Creator, who examines our hearts says, “Don’t worry,” then we worry. How can we not? We wonder what’s around the corner to test our obedience to such a command. It’s almost as if we’re hard-wired to do the very thing we’re told not to do.

So how do we keep from anxious worry? One way is to imagine ourselves in the scene as Jesus teaches. He points to the flying birds that have God’s provision despite how vulnerable they are. 

Our eyes follow his gesture to look at the birds in the skies and we want to believe he has such care for us. But does he? 

The answer comes as our eyes return to One speaking. What is the greatest evidence of God’s care for vulnerable creatures like us? He is!

The One sent from heaven to tell us, “Do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink…” is the One who assures us of God’s care. If he came from beyond the skies to save us for eternity, we can trust him for today.

So, today – really – don’t worry! Yes, make your plans and be responsible, but trust that the One who sent Jesus for your eternity will provide what is best for today.

Prayer: Lord, help me to trust that you not only care for the birds of the air but also for me. Let the reality of Jesus on earth bolster my heart for the realities of today so that worry does not lead me to despair in trial or doubt in you.

Daily Devotion - August 22, 2025

Now a Jew named Apollos, a native of Alexandria, came to Ephesus. He was an eloquent man, competent in the Scriptures . . . He began to speak boldly in the synagogue, but when Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they took him aside and explained to him the way of God more accurately. (Acts 18:24, 26)

Soon after a young man professed faith in Jesus, he began preaching in a small church. He didn’t know much about the Bible, or people, or preaching, but he knew God wanted others to know Jesus. So, the young man prayed that God would do a “mighty work” in that little church. 

Unfortunately, the church did not flourish. In fact, it closed. Grief over not reaching people in that community deepened the man’s desire to minister effectively. So, freed of the daily obligations of running a church, the man pursued further training – that taught him deeper truths of Scripture, how God’s people grow in faith, and how to preach. 

He is now one of the finest preachers in the country. God truly did a “mighty work” in that little church, humbling and preparing a man for God’s work. God answered prayer as he knew was best, placing a talented servant on a path to greater service. In God’s graceful timing, he always answers faithful prayers as he knows is best.

Prayer: Father, help me to remain faithful in my prayers with the confidence that you will answer in your graceful timing as you know is best.

Daily Devotion - August 21, 2025

Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you. (Eph. 4:31-32)

The story made headlines in Christian media. In post-apartheid South Africa, a frail black woman stood in a courtroom in front of the man who had murdered her husband and son. The judge asked her, “What do you want?” Her answer stunned everyone.

She replied, “I want three things: To know where my husband’s body is, so I can bury him properly.  Then, I want the accused to become my son, so that he can visit me, and I can show him the love I have. Finally, I want him to come forward now, so that I can I forgive him, as Jesus forgives.”

Then, the story fell apart because it could not be confirmed. Many suspected a hoax. Perhaps it was. But why did so many Christians embrace it so readily? Because we know the account, however suspect its details, accurately reflects Jesus’ calling to love as he loves – to forgive as we have been forgiven. 

Maybe the story serves best because we cannot pick its particulars apart. Instead, we must let the principles enter our heart, as from a modern parable, and consider how Christ’s mercy should motivate us. 

Who needs your forgiveness this day? I know that you and I will want to pick apart the particulars of why we need, or need not, show mercy. Still, our Lord has already declared what he wants: forgive as God in Christ forgave you. 

Prayer: Lord, as I have received your grace, please help me to extend mercy toward those who have hurt me. Help me to forgive as I have been loved by you. Nothing that you require is harder or clearer – or more blessed.

Daily Devotion - August 20, 2025

Whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be your slave, even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many. (Matt. 20:26-28)

Many people unconsciously expect their church to serve them. The expectation shows with the checklist we bring to worship. We ask, “Did the pastor preach a sermon to my liking? Did the music suit my taste? Does the building have the right décor?” 

Of course, we are right to be concerned that our church does what is right. The Bible tells us to be vigilant about God’s priorities. But sometimes God’s priorities get confused with our preferences. Whether we are expressing greater concerns about the latter than the former may take serious heart examination. 

That examination, if it is Biblical, often begins with asking whether we really are willing to follow Jesus by denying ourselves (Matt. 16:24)? Are we more seeking to serve or be served? 

Of course, we are all ready to testify that we are willing to be a servant – until someone treats us like one. Then, we must ask if Jesus only calls us to an occasional act of service, or to a life of selflessness for the sake of others knowing him.  

The charge to put God’s priorities above our own often can reduce our checklist to one item: Does this church help me serve Jesus better?

Prayer: Jesus, thank you for coming to serve rather than to be served. Help me to follow your example by being willing to give my life in the service of others knowing you better.

Daily Devotion - August 19, 2025

Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective. (James 5:16)

During America’s Great Awakening, Pastor Jonathan Edwards gathered eight hundred men together to pray. During this meeting, a woman sent a message to the men, asking them to pray for her husband. The note described a man whose spiritual pride had made him unloving, prideful, and difficult to live with. 

Edwards read the message aloud, hoping that the unidentified man would raise his hand to acknowledge his need and accept the prayers of the assembly. But, when Edwards asked for the man whose spiritual pride had made him so unloving to raise his hand, three hundred men raised their hands.

When the Holy Spirit is active among us, he not only convicts our hearts of sin, but makes us willing to confess our sin to God and to one another. Such mutual confession encourages believers that they are not alone in their sin and not alone in fighting it. 

God powerfully works among his people to heal and to accomplish his purposes when we are transparent about our need of him and about our gratitude for his grace. In church communities where people find safety and acceptance for the confession of their sin to one another, pride withers, humility grows, and the gospel spreads. 

Prayer: Lord, I confess that I sin against you daily in thought, word, and deed. If I believed I were alone in this, I would hide my faults from others, perhaps from myself, and even from you. Thank you for fellow Christians who help me grow in your grace by confessing they need it, too.

Daily Devotion - August 18, 2025

As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God's varied grace: whoever speaks, as one who speaks oracles of God; whoever serves, as one who serves by the strength that God supplies — in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ. (1 Pet. 4:10-11)

An old car wax commercial depicts a young woman preparing to sell her car. Aged and dull, the old vehicle no longer holds the allure it once had.  Yet, when the woman uses the “miracle” wax to put back the shine, the new gloss revives her affection for the car. She drives away, tossing the “For Sale” sign.

The commercial speaks to a deeper truth. We love what we invest in. When we labor with God’s gifts to improve the security, maturity, and understanding of other people, we spread Christ’s glory to them and they become more precious to us.

Bringing out the glory of Christ in others by the various gifts and graces he provides, helps them and, and at the same time, seals relationships. The result is greater glory to Jesus reflected in all.

Our churches, our families, our neighborhoods, fellowships, and the people in all of these, become more precious to us as we invest in them, and Jesus shine brighter because we do. 

Prayer: Lord, help me today to use the gifts you have given me to serve and bless others you love. May my investment not be begrudging but a way of making your glory so evident in them that I delight to serve them to see more of your glory. 

Daily Devotion - August 15, 2025

When the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior. (Tit. 3:4-6)

Imagine the thief who died next to Jesus standing at the gate of heaven. Also imagine some guardian at the gate asking the thief, “Why should I let you in?” 

The only response the thief can give: “I got nothing. I lived a sinful life and died before I could do anything to make up for it.” But that’s not all.

“Yet,” says the thief, “the One who died next to me said, ‘Today, you will be with me in Paradise.’ Now He stands next to me, and I am with Him.” 

The two claims of the thief are the only claims that will qualify anyone for heaven: “I got nothing,” and “I’m with Him.” There is nothing we can do that will save us from our sin for heaven’s blessings. Yet, heaven is ours when we are with Jesus, uniting our souls to him by faith in his provision. 

God “saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy.” He washes us from past sin, generating new life for us by his Spirit – even when we can’t make up for our wrongs. So, whoever confesses, “I got nothing but Jesus,” gets heaven. 

Prayer: Father, your mercy for my messes is astonishing! Help me to count on your loving kindness rather than my goodness, when I stand before you in heaven – or this day.

Daily Devotion - August 14, 2025

I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world. (John 16:33)

When English missionary Ann Judson accompanied her husband, Adoniram, to Burma, she could not have predicted how important she would be in reaching millions with the gospel. Nor could she have anticipated the degree of sacrifice her usefulness would require.

When tensions arose between England and Burma, Adoniram was imprisoned in horrible circumstances. Ann helped him survive with visits that were dangerous to her. She would smuggle morsels of food and lift his spirits with the whispered: “Do not give up. God will give us victory.” When hope died in others, and Ann herself became deathly ill, the words of Ann kept Adoniram alive.

When Ann passed from this life into glory, Adoniram Judson took her words as a charge from God to keep sharing the good news of the gospel of grace. Adoniram’s ministry and translation work ultimately reached millions. They were the spiritual children of Ann Judson who knew the peace and power of Jesus’ words “In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”

Prayer: Father, thank you for giving us the promise that Jesus’ purposes will triumph despite the troubles of this world. Help me to live for him, knowing that his purposes will prevail. Our trials will end but his triumph will not.

Daily Devotion - August 13, 2025

Our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of your hand, O king. But if not, be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods…. (Daniel 3:17-18)

Daniel’s companions teach us what faith means by their confidence in God’s ultimate rescue. These faithful men announced that God was able to deliver them from a pagan king’s fiery furnace, but they also confessed their allegiance if he did not. 

Their famous “But if not” statement is their clear declaration that God is worthy of our worship and faith regardless of our circumstances. The young men knew that God had provided an eternal rescue that extended beyond this life – and beyond a fiery trial. Even if they could not predict his present actions, they had faith in the eternal security he provides.

Don’t let anyone convince you that trusting God means telling him what he must do. We must declare our trust in God by entrusting our lives and our eternities to him. We trust him to be good to us and through us. That may mean delivering us from an immediate trial or giving us the strength to bear it.

Early in ministry, I visited a widow to provide pastoral care. She did more for me. Through tears she said, “I prayed for God either to heal my husband, or to give me the strength to bear his loss.” Then, like a sunbeam after rain, a smile burst through her tears and she said, “And he did. God gave me the strength.” 

Her trust strengthened and informed my own – and maybe yours, too. Trust the God of eternity for the grace you need today.

Prayer: Father, I know that you always have the power to deliver me. Help me to trust you to provide what is best for my eternal care regardless of present outcomes.

Daily Devotion - August 12, 2025

We do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin. (Heb. 4:15)

Secular storyteller and popular professor, Brené Brown, says, “Empathy is the great antidote to shame.” When we experience human empathy, we begin to heal through another’s understanding of our difficulty.

Divine empathy, from One we instinctively think would only judge us, offers soul-deep empathy as grace to heal our deepest shame. That’s why the writer of Hebrews tells us Jesus can empathize with our weaknesses because he was tempted in every way we are – yet he did not sin. 

Jesus experienced all the pressures upon his soul that this world can throw. Although none of these external threats to his holiness penetrated his spiritual armor, he now knows how threatened we are by them and what it takes to resist them.

Because Jesus understands what we go through, he’s able to empathize. He’s been there. So, when he hears our cries for help, he really understands prayers about loneliness, suffering, cruelty, and abandonment. Not only does he hear, he responds as he has learned first-hand to strengthen, support, heal, and forgive.

Jesus knows our worst nightmares because he walked through this dark world. So, he knows how to guide us, intercede for us, and to provide the light for our plight. We go to Jesus because we know that, when no one else really understands, our God knows!

Prayer: Jesus, thank you for becoming one of us, so that you know what it means to be tempted. Thank you for assuring me that when no one else understands, I can know that you know. Because you empathize, I can endure.

Daily Devotion - August 11, 2025

He [Jesus] said to them, “How foolish you are, and how slow to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Did not the Messiah have to suffer these things and then enter his glory?” And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself. (Luke 24:25-27)

Have you ever been startled by the jarring surprise that comes with the last crank of a Jack-in-the-Box? God’s grace was never meant to surprise us that way.  

Instead, Jesus’ words assure us that God was preparing his people to receive the grace of Christ long before his appearance on earth. God began revealing his plan in the opening chapters of the Bible. There he promised a Son who would crush the powers of Satan, and the rest of Scripture unfolds what that should mean for us. 

The message of salvation doesn’t get dumped on humanity all at once. We couldn’t receive it that way. Instead, we are led by laws, examples, and prophecies to understand the pervasiveness of human failing and the necessity of a divine solution. That’s the gospel message carried through from Genesis to Revelation. 

Why should we care that the Bible unfolds that way? Because this reveals how patient and persistent is the grace of God for sinners and strugglers like us. He did not turn away because his people did. He did not abandon his children because they stumbled. Instead as the light of dawn grows brighter toward the day, the message of grace grew clearer until it revealed the Savior we need every day. 

Prayer: Lord, help me always to read your Word with gospel glasses that reveal divine provision for human need. Let me not to settle for simple “do good” lessons that do not lead me to my Savior as your Word always does.

Daily Devotion - August 8, 2025

Not that I have already obtained this [righteousness of Christ] or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. (Phil. 3:12)

As followers of Christ, we must continually fight against sin, but that doesn’t mean we’ll attain perfection on this side of heaven. Even the Apostle Paul acknowledged that he was not “already perfect.”

We won’t be perfect in this life because there’s only person who was: Jesus Christ, our Savior. But the fact that we are not already perfect does not keep us from pressing on to live as he lived. One reason is that we have already been granted a perfect record by the grace of God – he has erased the record of our faults by the blood of Jesus. 

When we understand how incredible God’s love for us really is, our heart’s desire is to live for him. The Apostle Paul said it simply and compactly, “I press on to make it [a righteous life] my own, because Christ Jesus made me his own.”

We long to reflect Christ’s heart because he claimed ours. His love for us makes us want to live for him and to be like him. 

Friends of ours adopted a child from an African village where food, medical care, and education were almost non-existent. The adoption was truly lifesaving. 

Years later, we noted the silhouette of the child – now a young man – approaching us at twilight. His gait was unmistakably that of his adopted father; so was his voice; so was his faith.  

So also, we delight to mirror our Messiah. We seek to make our own the life of the One who made us his own. 

Prayer: Lord, you know I am far from perfect, but don’t let that discourage me from seeking to honor you. Fill me with desire to make my own the life of the One who made me his own by his saving grace.

Daily Devotion - August 7, 2025

No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation, he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it. (1 Cor. 10:13)

The Apostle Paul writes to people like us who have been tempted by the world’s traps and snares to think there is no way out! He assures us instead, “When you are tempted, God will provide an escape.”

Not only does God promise this escape from temptation, but he also promises escape from debilitating shame. Our tendency is to think, “The reason that I am so tempted is that I am weak and weird. If I were a mature person – a real Christian – then I would not be tempted this way.

Instead, the apostle assures each of us that we are not alone. There are hundreds of thousands of others across the ages and across the world who struggle with similar things. Don’t let Satan weaken you with the shame of believing that you are so unique or weird or awful that God’s grace cannot help you.

The assurance of a way of escape from temptation to multitudes of persons like us also keeps us from creating our own exclusion clause from seeking God’s help and obeying his commands. 

God says, “Others have struggled like you, and have found victory in my provision. So can you.” That assurance enables us to overcome our weaknesses and turn away from our temptations.

Believe that these promises of God are real. Then you will have power to fight your temptations and flee to the escape he graciously provides.

Prayer: Lord, when I am tempted, enable me to believe you will provide a way of escape, to believe you will give me strength to take it, and to run through it!

Daily Devotion - August 6, 2025

Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. For by it the people of old received their commendation. . .Without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him. (Heb. 11:1, 6)

Without confidence in our relationship with Christ, we become like my children, who at a young age feared standing up to cross a rope suspension bridge.

The anchors and ropes that held the bridge were perfectly secure, but my young children approached it with dread! They were far more focused on the depth of the chasm beneath them than on the security of the bridge that held them. So, in fear and anguish, they would only crawl across the bridge, even as other people confidently walked past them. 

My children’s actions are at times reflected in believers who doubt their security in Christ. They crawl forward in their pursuit of God’s purposes, far more focused on personal weakness and spiritual danger than on the promises of God. Doubting the certainty of his care, they take baby steps for Jesus instead of confidently marching forward in his care.

The chasms of potential failure are real, and dangers from spiritual foes are immense, but the bridge to God’s purpose is supported by cables of his love and power that no earthly power can overcome. So, walk forward on the bridge of obedience to his Word with the faith that it is secured by the wisdom, strength, and love of your sovereign God.

Take each step of faith with the drumbeat of these oft-repeated words: The will of God will not lead you where the grace of God cannot keep you.   

Prayer: Lord Jesus, help me to walk by faith in your sure provision this day, so that I step forward in your purposes with courage and confidence and not with childlike fears.

Daily Devotion - August 5, 2025

For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. (2 Cor. 5:21)

If you were in deep in debt for ten million dollars and someone wrote you a check for the full amount, you would be thrilled but not out of the woods.

After all, even after your debt was relieved, with no other funds added, you would still have an empty balance in your bank account. That’s the way lots of Christians feel, when they only consider half of the gospel.

The first half of the gospel promises that the debt of our sin was fully paid when Jesus died on the cross. He became sin for us, taking the penalty for our sins on himself. That’s great, but we can still feel guilty that our sin caused his suffering, and there is another problem: you and I continue to sin. 

God’s standard for yesterday, today, and tomorrow is, “Be holy, for I am holy.” That means every day that we are not perfect, we accumulate new debt. And, even if Jesus cancels that, we still only have zeros to our name in our spiritual account.  

 That’s why we need the second half of the gospel. Jesus not only paid for our sin, he provides his righteousness for us. Paul writes that Jesus provided so that “in him we might become the righteousness of God.” Jesus gives what God requires, making us rich in his righteousness even as he forgives our debt.  

Praise God that you’re debt is paid and your spiritual bank account is overflowing with grace.

Prayer: Lord, thank you for both halves of the gospel: for paying my debt in full and for providing Jesus’ righteousness in abundance. I need both. I praise you for such rich grace.

Daily Devotion - August 4, 2025

Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. (1 John 4:7-8)

The Jefferson Barracks Memorial Bridge, which crosses the Mississippi River, reflects an architectural design called a tied arch. It’s a series of cables suspended from a massive arch that supports the bridge’s roadbed. 

For the bridge to support the intended load, the cables must have a specific tension. To test that, each cable is plucked like a huge harp string to see if it has the proper resonance. Whether the bridge will hold is revealed by the tone the cable emits.

In a similar way, God’s hold on us is revealed by the tone of our hearts. When our hearts are tuned to God’s heart they resonate with his love for others. 

Sometimes those heart strings are plucked harshly or unkindly by the actions of others, but the Christian heart reverberating with humble gratitude for Christ’s mercy still resonates with his grace. 

A heart tied to God’s heart resonates with his love; a heart that does not cannot claim to know God. That may sound harsh, but God loves us enough to give the warning sounds of spiritual danger. If loveless tones have come from you recently, tether your heart again to the forgiving heart of Jesus.

Prayer: Father, I pray that my heart will resonate with love and gratitude for what you have done for me in Christ. Help me to love when it is difficult, confirming Christ in me.

Daily Devotion - August 1, 2025

At the end of the days I, Nebuchadnezzar, lifted my eyes to heaven, and my reason returned to me, and I blessed the Most High, and praised and honored him who lives forever. (Daniel 4:34)

We love to hear a dramatic testimony. We delight in stories of radical change in people like the Apostle Paul, who turned from persecuting Christians to building the early Church!

Such stories are woven throughout Scripture because we keep wondering if God can work so powerfully and personally. Sometimes the unlikeliest persons are chosen to make clear that God can work precisely this way for people without any other hope. 

We would have trouble identifying anyone more wicked that Babylon’s King Nebuchadnezzar. He was a ruthless idolator, enslaver, and murderer. Yet, he ended up praising the God of the people of Israel that he had so cruelly enslaved and persecuted. 

This king may be unique in his wickedness but not in his path to God. There is no way that this wicked man could have compensated for his sins to claim God’s love. So how did he come to God?

When he was absolutely incapable of helping himself, he did not point to his achievements, or look down on anyone else to compare his goodness. Instead, he looked up to heaven for God’s help.

God blessed the humility of a man who possessed no good in himself. That’s gospel gold!  God made a pagan king a member of heaven’s family by grace alone. We, too, become members of God’s family by faith in his grace alone.

Look up to the One who sent Jesus down to you. 

Prayer: Heavenly Father, thank you for enabling me to be a member of your family – not because of anything I’ve done but solely by your grace. May humility be my path to you.