DAILY DEVOTIONS

September 22-Sermon on the MountWrite out the Scripture.Matthew 5:17-18, “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. 18 For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished.Observe what it is...

September 15-Sermon on the MountWrite out the Scripture.Matthew 5:8, Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.Observe what it is saying.The “pure in heart” has two interrelated meanings. It means inner moral purity, as well as, external piety. Such purity begins with the cleansing of Christ through His redemptive power. Once we are born anew, we continue with a single-mindedness that p...

September 8-Sermon on the MountWrite out the Scripture.Matthew 5:1-2, Now when Jesus saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him, 2 and he began to teach them.Observe what it is saying.Over the next several weeks, we will review Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount. We will discover that the unifying theme is the kingdom of heaven, also known as, the kingdom of God. ...

September 1-FaithWrite out the Scripture.Hebrews 11:29, By faith the people passed through the Red Sea as on dry land; but when the Egyptians tried to do so, they were drowned.Observe what it is saying.This verse should bring us much encouragement because many of those who went out of Egypt with Moses were anything but shining examples of faith in God. However, they must have had some faith to fol...

August 25-FaithWrite out the Scripture.Hebrews 11:20, By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau in regard to their future.Observe what it is saying.Just as Abraham acted with the promise of things to come, so did Isaac, his son. Isaac blessed his two sons in terms that looked into the distant future. His blessing to Jacob, Genesis 27:28-29, “May God give you heaven’s dew and earth’s richness— an abund...

August 18-FaithWrite out the Scripture.Hebrews 11:8-9, By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going.9 By faith he made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise.Observe what it i...

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...