Devotional
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Christian Devotional – November 3, 2013
VERSE: Nehemiah 1:11–“Lord, let your ear be attentive to the prayer of this your servant and to the prayer of your servants who delight in revering your name. Give your servant success today by granting him favor in the presence of this man.” I was cupbearer to the king. TRUTH: As Nehemiah begins this book, he explains his problems and concerns. He hears about the desperate situation that his people are in back in Judah and he quickly goes to the Lord in prayer for several days. He asks that the Lord be attentive to him and hear his prayer. Also, he is driven to action and is led to do…
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Christian Devotional – November 2, 2013
VERSE: Hebrews 13:5–Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.” TRUTH: Being content with possessions in a world that is constantly screaming, “more, more!” is difficult. Yet, what are we saying when we scream for more? In essence, what we are saying is that we do not trust God to be with us or take care of us. Being content means resting in the truth that God has promised never to leave us or forsake us. We can be content as we rest in His promise. We don’t have…
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Christian Devotional – November 1, 2013
VERSE: Hebrews 12:1–Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. TRUTH: We are not alone. Every decision that we make is witnessed by the saints who have gone on before; all the people listed in chapter 11 who lived by faith are watching. As a result, we are to throw off the sin that is surrounding us and which is threatening to slow us down and trip us up. We cannot run this race to the best of our ability…
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Christian Devotional – October 31, 2013
VERSE: Hebrews 11:3–By faith, we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so what is seen was not made out of what was visible. TRUTH: God made the universe out of nothing. He took and formed and created everything that we see, both near and far, from out of the nothingness that was before. How do we know this? We have faith that the words spoken by God both in Genesis and here are true. We cannot scientifically explain it, but we have faith that it is true because God’s Word says it. RESPONSE: Father, Your world is wonderful and amazing! You have created such beauty and detail. I…
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Christian Devotional – October 30, 2013
VERSE: Hebrews 10:23–Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. TRUTH: We have a hope that is true and that we can hold to because the one we put our hope in is faithful. God is the one who has promised to us and we can trust God to keep His promises. Because of this, our hope is grounded in the assurance that He will do everything exactly as He has promised. RESPONSE: Father, I can hope confidently and faithfully in You because You are faithful to Your promises to me. I will cling to Your promises knowing that You will do just as…
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Christian Devotional – October 29, 2013
VERSE: Hebrews 9:27–Just as people are destined to die once and after that to face judgment. TRUTH: Death and then judgment, this is the way that God has set up the world. We are able to recognize that ideas of reincarnation and the like are simply not true based on scripture. We live, then we die, then we face the judgment that God has for us. As the verses before this state, the results of the judgment will be determined by our response to the sacrifice of Jesus Christ with regard to our own sins. RESPONSE: Father, You have made it very clear that once I die, I will face…
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Christian Devotional – October 28, 2013
VERSE: Hebrews 8:12–For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sin no more. TRUTH: God is speaking here about the new covenant He is going to establish with His people. He indicates that He will forgive and not remember our sins anymore. Some people say, “forgive and forget,” but this goes even deeper than that idea. It’s not that He forgets our sin, but that He doesn’t hold them against us anymore. We are no longer held captive to the consequences of our sins. Instead we are free to live in the forgiveness of sin that He provides. That is such a wonderful place of freedom to worship…
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Christian Devotional – October 27, 2013
VERSE: Hebrews 7:25–Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them. TRUTH: Our salvation through Christ is complete and permanent. Why? Because Jesus Christ lives forever and He, in His perfection, has fully and completely paid the cost of the sin in each of our lives. For that reason, we do not have to worry about out-sinning God’s ability to forgive us. Each and every person who comes to God and confesses their sin is saved completely through the perfect sacrifice of Jesus Christ. RESPONSE: Father, sometimes I get too focused on my sins and not on…
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Christian Devotional – October 26, 2013
VERSE: Hebrews 6:15–And so after waiting patiently, Abraham received what was promised. TRUTH: This verse is such a simple way to describe several verses of struggle and hardship for Abraham. People reading this might think it sounds like God promised, Abraham waited, then God delivered. While in essence that is true, going back to Genesis, we see that Abraham is promised to be the father of many nations in Genesis 12, but then Isaac isn’t born until Genesis 21. There are several trials and struggles that Abraham faced through those chapters. Still, the important part was that even though Abraham lost his way a couple of times in between receiving…
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Christian Devotional – October 25, 2013
VERSE: Hebrews 5:8–Son though he was, he learned obedience from what he suffered. TRUTH: Jesus Christ, the perfect Son of God, learned obedience from going through suffering. He learned what it was to experience pain and problems and hindrances to obedience, yet He continued on in the obedience, yet He continued on in obedience. How do we learn obedience? We learn obedience the same way Jesus learned, through suffering. When we go through suffering, are we learning obedience through that time or are we just enduring suffering? RESPONSE: Father, suffering is hard, but it is the way in which You teach obedience. I pray You will continue to work with…