DAILY DEVOTIONS

July 29-Great Chapters of the BibleWrite out the Scripture.Genesis 1:24-25, Then God said, “Let the earth produce every sort of animal, each producing offspring of the same kind—livestock, small animals that scurry along the ground, and wild animals.” And that is what happened. God made all sorts of wild animals, livestock, and small animals, each able to produce offspring of the same kind. And Go...

July 22-Great Chapters of the BibleWrite out the Scripture.Genesis 1:1-2, In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.Observe what it is saying. The Bible’s opening words tell us that God is the Creator of the vast universe, including our planet. The descr...

July 15-Purposeful LivingEdited by Gary G. Hoag and Tim MacReadyThree Keys to Preparing for Purposeful Retirement by Michael Blue, Executive Director and General Counsel for the Ron Blue Institute. “Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah.” These were the dying words of C.T. Studd spoken as he lay thousands of miles from his homeland in the middle of the jungles of Africa. He lived a life that exhibite...

July 8-Purposeful LivingEdited by Gary G. Hoag and Tim MacReadyLearn to receive first to grow in the grace of giving. by Daryl Heald “Freely you have received; freely give.” Matthew 10:8b.How could I have missed it? Looking back on my journey, it’s tough to admit this. For years, I aimed at helping people grasp the value proposition that it is more blessed to give than receive (see Acts 20:35). I ...

July 1-Purposeful LivingEdited by Gary G. Hoag and Tim MacReadyWhat does it mean to remember the poor? by Bruce Longenecker, New Testament scholarIn the late forties of the first century, the Apostle Paul met with Christian leaders in Jerusalem to discuss whether a disputed practice (male circumcision) was essential to Christian identity. Of course, we know from Galatians 2:1-10 what they conclude...

June 24-Purposeful LivingEdited by Gary G. Hoag and Tim MacReadyWhat does your savings account say about your heart? by Nicholas Breach, Executive Director of Compass “How much do you have in your savings account? What are you saving up for?” These questions asked by the Royal Australian Air Force officer sitting across the table shocked me. Ever since I was a kid, my dream was to fly jets in the ...

June 17-Purposeful LivingEdited by Gary G. Hoag and Tim MacReadyHow can giving break the power of money in one’s life? by Todd Harper, President of Generous Giving “It is more blessed to give than to receive” (Acts 20:35b). These simple words of Jesus provide the key to freedom and joy in our relationship with money. Though this is a well-known verse, few Christ-followers truly know, understand, a...

June 10-Purposeful LivingEdited by Gary G. Hoag and Tim MacReady“It’s All His” by R. Scott Rodin, heads The Steward’s Journey and Kingdom Life Publishing Have you noticed that throughout Scripture, with God, it’s all or nothing? “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength” Jesus began His earthly ministry saying, “Do not think that I have come to a...

June 3-Purposeful LivingEdited by Gary G. Hoag and Tim MacReadyHow do we see work and earning in the bigger picture of our Christian faith? By Wes Willmer, Principal of the Wes Willmer Group, LLC. The world’s advice on earning leads you to disaster. It erodes your character and pillages your relationships. You fall into the trap of loving money and using people to accomplish your purposes. There’s...

May 27-Meditating on God’s WordHere is the passage for the week:Judges 7:16-22, Dividing the three hundred men into three companies, he placed trumpets and empty jars in the hands of all of them, with torches inside. 17 “Watch me,” he told them. “Follow my lead. When I get to the edge of the camp, do exactly as I do. 18 When I and all who are with me blow our trumpets, then from all around the cam...

May 20-Meditating on God’s WordHere is the passage for the week:Judges 7:9-15, During that night the Lord said to Gideon, “Get up, go down against the camp, because I am going to give it into your hands. 10 If you are afraid to attack, go down to the camp with your servant Purah 11 and listen to what they are saying.  Afterward, you will be encouraged to attack the camp.” So he and Purah his serva...

May 13-Meditating on God’s WordHere is the passage for the week:Judges 7:2-8, The Lord said to Gideon, “You have too many men. I cannot deliver Midian into their hands, or Israel would boast against me, ‘My own strength has saved me.’ 3 Now announce to the army, ‘Anyone who trembles with fear may turn back and leave Mount Gilead.’” So twenty-two thousand men left, while ten thousand remained. 4 Bu...

May 6-Meditating on God’s WordHere is the passage for the week:Judges 6:36-40, Gideon said to God, “If you will save Israel by my hand as you have promised—37 look, I will place a wool fleece on the threshing floor. If there is dew only on the fleece and all the ground is dry, then I will know that you will save Israel by my hand, as you said.” 38 And that is what happened. Gideon rose early the n...

April 29-Meditating on God’s WordHere is the passage for the week:Judges 6:27-32, So Gideon took ten of his servants and did as the Lord told him. But because he was afraid of his family and the townspeople, he did it at night rather than in the daytime. 28In the morning when the people of the town got up, there was Baal’s altar, demolished, with the Asherah pole beside it cut down and the second ...

April 22-Meditating on God’s WordHere is the passage for the week:Judges 6:17-24, Gideon replied, “If now I have found favor in your eyes, give me a sign that it is really you talking to me. 18 Please do not go away until I come back and bring my offering and set it before you.” And the Lord said, “I will wait until you return.” 19 Gideon went inside, prepared a young goat, and from an ephah of fl...

April 15-Meditating on God’s WordHere is the passage for the week:Judges 6:13-16, “Pardon me, my lord,” Gideon replied, “but if the Lord is with us, why has all this happened to us? Where are all his wonders that our ancestors told us about when they said, ‘Did not the Lord bring us up out of Egypt?’ But now the Lord has abandoned us and given us into the hand of Midian.” 14 The Lord turned to him...

April 8-Meditating on God’s WordHere is the passage for the week:Judges 6:7-12, When the Israelites cried out to the Lord because of Midian, 8 he sent them a prophet, who said, “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: I brought you up out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. 9 I rescued you from the hand of the Egyptians. And I delivered you from the hand of all your oppressors; I drove t...

April 1-Meditating on God’s WordHere is the passage for the week:Judges 6:1-6, The Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord, and for seven years he gave them into the hands of the Midianites. 2 Because the power of Midian was so oppressive, the Israelites prepared shelters for themselves in mountain clefts, caves and strongholds. 3 Whenever the Israelites planted their crops, the Midianites, Am...

March 25-Meditating on God’s WordHere is the passage for the week:Acts 7:54-60, When the members of the Sanhedrin heard this, they were furious and gnashed their teeth at him. 55 But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, looked up to heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God.56 “Look,” he said, “I see heaven open and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.”...

March 18-Meditating on God’s WordHere is the passage for the week:Acts 6:8-15, Now Stephen, a man full of God’s grace and power, performed great wonders and signs among the people. 9 Opposition arose, however, from members of the Synagogue of the Freedmen (as it was called)—Jews of Cyrene and Alexandria as well as the provinces of Cilicia and Asia—who began to argue with Stephen.10 But they could ...