DAILY DEVOTIONS

August 11-FaithWrite out the Scripture.Hebrews 11:1-2, Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. 2 This is what the ancients were commended for.Observe what it is saying.Over the next few weeks, we will spend time in this chapter of faith, also known as Heaven’s Hall of Fame. The chapter begins with a clear definition of faith. Faith is confidence. The wor...

August 4-RefugeWrite out the Scripture.1 Peter 5:7, Cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you.”Observe what it is saying.The fact that God serves as our refuge implies deliverance and salvation. He wants to exchange our anxiety for care, our fears for His peace, and our worries for His love. This care should alert us how special we are to Him. Picture someone you care deeply about-perh...

July 28-RefugeWrite out the Scripture.Acts 12:6-8, The night before Herod was to bring him to trial, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains, and sentries stood guard at the entrance.7 Suddenly an angel of the Lord appeared and a light shone in the cell. He struck Peter on the side and woke him up. “Quick, get up!” he said, and the chains fell off Peter’s wrists. 8 Then the ...

July 21-RefugeWrite out the Scripture.Luke 1:37-38, For no word from God will ever fail.” 38 “I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May your word to me be fulfilled.” Then the angel left her.Observe what it is saying.Imagine the angel’s visit to Mary, announcing that she would conceive by the Holy Spirit and give birth to Jesus, the Messiah. Her response shows her faith. She says that “no word...

July 14-RefugeWrite out the Scripture.Esther 4:16, “Go, gather together all the Jews who are in Susa, and fast for me. Do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. I and my attendants will fast as you do. When this is done, I will go to the king, even though it is against the law. And if I perish, I perish.”Observe what it is saying.Part of the reason for a fast relates to setting aside our d...

July 7-RefugeWrite out the Scripture.Psalm 34:4, I sought the Lord, and he answered me; he delivered me from all my fears.Observe what it is saying.David, the psalmist, had foes chasing him and fears aimed at sowing depression, defeat and discouragement in his life. Perhaps you can relate? Many things have gone wrong, so you fear the worst as you look to the future. Your mind races. What if this o...

June 30-RefugeWrite out the Scripture.Psalm 46:1, “God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble.”Observe what it is saying.Michael (Mykhailo) Cherenkov was born in Soviet Russia and raised in Ukraine. He has an MA in history and a Ph.D. in religious studies. Gary S. Hoag serves as President and CEO of Global Trust Partners. He received his Ph.D. in New Testament from Trinity Col...

June 23-Solomon’s StoryWrite out the Scripture.2 Chronicles 9:5-8, She said to the king, “The report I heard in my own country about your achievements and your wisdom is true. 6 But I did not believe what they said until I came and saw with my own eyes. Indeed, not even half the greatness of your wisdom was told me; you have far exceeded the report I heard. 7 How happy your people must be! How hap...

June 16-Solomon’s StoryWrite out the Scripture.2 Chronicles 8:1-6, At the end of twenty years, during which Solomon built the temple of the Lord and his own palace, 2 Solomon rebuilt the villages that Hiram had given him, and settled Israelites in them. 3 Solomon then went to Hamath Zobah and captured it. 4 He also built up Tadmor in the desert and all the store cities he had built in Hamath. 5 He...

June 9-Solomon’s StoryWrite out the Scripture.2 Chronicles 7:1-3, When Solomon finished praying, fire came down from heaven and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices, and the glory of the Lord filled the temple. 2 The priests could not enter the temple of the Lord because the glory of the Lord filled it.3 When all the Israelites saw the fire coming down and the glory of the Lord above the...

June 2-Solomon’s StoryWrite out the Scripture.2 Chronicles 6:12-17, Then Solomon stood before the altar of the Lord in front of the whole assembly of Israel and spread out his hands. 13 Now he had made a bronze platform, five cubits long, five cubits wide and three cubits high, and had placed it in the center of the outer court. He stood on the platform and then knelt down before the whole assembl...

May 26-Solomon’s StoryWrite out the Scripture.2 Chronicles 5:1-6, When all the work Solomon had done for the temple of the Lord was finished, he brought in the things his father David had dedicated—the silver and gold and all the furnishings—and he placed them in the treasuries of God’s temple. 2 Then Solomon summoned to Jerusalem the elders of Israel, all the heads of the tribes and the chiefs of...

May 19-Solomon’s StoryWrite out the Scripture.2 Chronicles 4:1, He made a bronze altar twenty cubits long, twenty cubits wide and ten cubits high.Observe what it is saying.The furnishings of the temple were necessary for the priests to be able to do their ministry to please the Lord. As you approached the temple from the east, you came to the entrance to the inner courtyard of the priests. It was ...

May 12-Solomon’s StoryWrite out the Scripture.2 Chronicles 3:1-2, Then Solomon began to build the temple of the Lord in Jerusalem on Mount Moriah, where the Lord had appeared to his father David. It was on the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite, the place provided by David. 2 He began building on the second day of the second month in the fourth year of his reign.Observe what it is saying.If y...

May 5-Solomon’s StoryWrite out the Scripture.2 Chronicles 2:1-4, Solomon gave orders to build a temple for the Name of the Lord and a royal palace for himself. 2 He conscripted 70,000 men as carriers and 80,000 as stonecutters in the hills and 3,600 as foremen over them. 3 Solomon sent this message to Hiram king of Tyre: “Send me cedar logs as you did for my father David when you sent him cedar to...

April 28-Solomon’s StoryWrite out the Scripture.2 Chronicles 1:1-3, Solomon son of David established himself firmly over his kingdom, for the Lord his God was with him and made him exceedingly great. 2 Then Solomon spoke to all Israel—to the commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds, to the judges and to all the leaders in Israel, the heads of families— 3 and Solomon and the whole assembl...

April 21-The Final WeekWrite out the Scripture.Matthew 28:1-4, After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb. 2 There was a violent earthquake, for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and, going to the tomb, rolled back the stone and sat on it. 3 His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow. 4 The...

April 14-The Final WeekWrite out the Scripture.Matthew 27:32-38, As they were going out, they met a man from Cyrene, named Simon, and they forced him to carry the cross. 33 They came to a place called Golgotha (which means “the place of the skull”). 34 There they offered Jesus wine to drink, mixed with gall; but after tasting it, he refused to drink it. 35 When they had crucified him, they divided...

April 7- The Final WeekWrite out the Scripture.Matthew 27:1-5, Early in the morning, all the chief priests and the elders of the people made their plans how to have Jesus executed. 2 So they bound him, led him away and handed him over to Pilate the governor. 3 When Judas, who had betrayed him, saw that Jesus was condemned, he was seized with remorse and returned the thirty pieces of silver to the ...

March 31- The Final WeekWrite out the Scripture.Matthew 26:51-54, With that, one of Jesus’ companions reached for his sword, drew it out and struck the servant of the high priest, cutting off his ear. 52 “Put your sword back in its place,” Jesus said to him, “for all who draw the sword will die by the sword. 53 Do you think I cannot call on my Father, and he will at once put at my disposal more th...