Month: November 2024

Love the Lord your God with all your heart.
Deuteronomy 6:5

All Your Heart

Daily Devotion – November 4, 2024

Devotion based on Deuteronomy 6:5


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By now, everyone is likely familiar with the show, The Bachelor. The show has several other versions at this point, but the premise is always the same. The contestant dates a few dozen individuals simultaneously and gradually whittles that number down to the one person they hope to spend the rest of their lives with. It often happens that the individual will find themselves in love with multiple people. To many of us, that seems unrealistic. How can you fall in love with numerous people at the same time?

The truth is, while we are not likely to be candidates for that TV show, we all have hearts that are hopelessly divided. So many things in life demand our love and attention. In fact, our hearts have trouble settling on one thing to love. We throw our hearts at one thing one day, only to find a new target for our love the next.

It begs the question: how much room in our hearts is left for God? Does he get all of our hearts? Truthfully, we love far too many other things more than we love God. It seems that when God asks us to love him with all our hearts, he is asking the impossible.

Impossible for us, yes. But not impossible for Jesus. Jesus loved God with all his heart all the time. He proved it once and for all by obeying his Father’s will and dying on the cross to pay for the sins of the world. He didn’t even love his own life more than he loved God. He lived and died so that we could have forgiveness for the times when we failed to love God. Jesus did this all out of love for us, too.

None of the other things we give our hearts to in this world can do what Jesus has done for us. He has forgiven our sins and earned a place in heaven for us. In view of these wonderful things, give your whole heart to God.

Prayer:
Dear Lord Jesus, you loved God with all your heart and now I am saved. Help me to love God with all my heart today. Amen.

Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another.
Romans 13:8

The Debt

Daily Devotion – November 3, 2024

Devotion based on Romans 13:8


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Credit cards and car payments. Mortgages and medical bills. Leases and braces. Collectors and filing for bankruptcy. Then there is always the question of whether there will be enough retirement benefits and enough for tuition payments. We all know the burden of financial commitments to one degree or another. It’s like a treadmill that we can’t get off. It can feel like a mountain that keeps us buried. Debt leaves us imprisoned and burdened. No wonder wise Solomon wrote, “The borrower is slave to the lender” (Proverbs 22:7).

But these debts are just a hint of an even greater debt, the debt we owe to God. And we do “owe him big-time.” We have not loved him and others as we should. And that’s a debt we can’t repay. No amount of silver or gold in the world would ever be enough. That’s why God himself came up with a payment plan, a plan that included the blood of his very own Son. Jesus’ precious blood shed on the cross covers our sin and cancels our debt. That is the very meaning of the word “forgiven.”

God doesn’t promise to pay off all our financial debt, but the forgiveness he gives enables us to face the future with peace and hope. It also creates a new life of indebtedness—the welcomed debt of love and thanksgiving that we can give to him and each other.

Prayer:
Lord, fill my heart today with the peace and forgiveness that only can come from you. Then enrich me with your love that I may share it with others. Amen.

Then I saw another angel flying in midair, and he had the eternal gospel to proclaim to those who live on the earth—to every nation, tribe, language and people.
Revelation 14:6

The Eternal Gospel

Daily Devotion – November 2, 2024

Devotion based on Revelation 14:6


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If you drive to your nearest major airport and fly to Tel Aviv in Israel, and from there, take a bus to the city of Hebron, you can see a massive, ancient building erected over the tomb of Abraham. Abraham has been dead for about 4,000 years.

From Israel, if you fly to Leonardo da Vinci Airport near Rome, and take a cab into the city, you can see the sarcophagus believed to contain the bones of the apostle Paul. Paul has been dead for about 2,000 years.

From Italy, if you fly to Frankfurt in Germany, then drive 4½ hours to Wittenberg, you can enter the Castle Church and walk right up to the grave of Martin Luther. Luther has been dead for about 450 years.

Three different men, separated by centuries, separated by culture, separated by life experience. Each man lived and died in his own time, never personally knowing the other two.

However, there is one thing they held in common. They all proclaimed the eternal gospel. They all proclaimed the message of full forgiveness through faith in the promised Savior from sin.

If you’re living in the United States, you know that soon it will be Election Day. In addition, no doubt you are asking the Lord to bless this day’s results for the good of the country and its people.

As you do, however, don’t forget to rejoice in knowing that above the ebb and flow of history, above the twists and turns of nations, above the actions of cultures and governments and individuals—above it all is the eternal gospel. Above it all is the voice of God in his Word. It is the voice that says, “To the thirsty I will give water without cost from the spring of the water of life” (Rev 21:6).

And that, dear Christian, is a wonderful thing to know.

Prayer:
Lord of the nations, bless the flow of history for the good of your people. Above all, Lord Jesus, thank you for your eternal gospel. Amen.

[Jesus said] “You must be on your guard. You will be handed over to the local councils and flogged in the synagogues. On account of me you will stand before governors and kings as witnesses to them. And the gospel must first be preached to all nations. Whenever you are arrested and brought to trial, do not worry beforehand about what to say. Just say whatever is given you at the time, for it is not you speaking, but the Holy Spirit.”
Mark 13:9-11

Prepared to Witness

Daily Devotion – November 1, 2024

Devotion based on Mark 13:9-11


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Are you ready? Christ calls us to live a life of courageous witness in the face of hostility from others. Are you ready to be that witness? While we might know how to prepare for a job, school year, or vacation, how will we prepare to live a life of courageous witness?

While Jesus was teaching his disciples during his final week, he described what was coming after his resurrection. False teachers would deceive many. Conflicts and natural disasters would rage all over the world. Yet for Christians, the hardest part would come from those who oppose Christ and his Word. Hostile opposition from local communities to the highest levels of government would become a reality for God’s people. Since then, Christians of every century have had to make faithful witness in the face of persecution. They proclaimed Christ even when faced with death.

What about us? Are we ready? If not, how can we be ready? We can prepare to be Christ’s witnesses by returning to his Word. There in the Bible, we find God’s law that cuts sinners to the heart. Yet, we also find Jesus—our living and enduring Savior, who forgives our guilt and gives us confident hope, who strengthens us to be his courageous witnesses. Jesus even tells us not to worry in those situations because he will send his Holy Spirit to help us give the reason for the hope that we have no matter the situation or what we face. So then, like the disciples of old, prepared with God’s Word, as we courageously witness Christ as our Savior, the Spirit speaks through us.

Prayer:
O Lord, when confronted with opposition to you or your Word, help me to find courage in you. Send your Spirit to speak the truth of your Word through me that others may know you. Amen.