Month: January 2025

When the set time had fully come, God sent his Son.
Galatians 4:4

Timing Is Everything

Daily Devotion – January 5, 2025

Devotion based on Galatians 4:4


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Think about those words from today’s Bible reading for a moment. “When the set time had fully come, God sent his Son.” Throughout human history, God had a specific, precise timetable for when the Savior of the world would enter the world. It would not be a minute too late or too soon. But until the moment of his birth arrived, God’s people throughout the centuries had had to wait.

You and I have a real luxury. We have the luxury of reading exactly how God fulfilled his promise of a Savior. Believers who lived before Jesus’ coming could only wait and trust. But wait and trust they did. And their trust was not misplaced, “for when the set time had fully come, God sent his Son.” God kept his promise.

There are times in our lives when the noblest work we can do as Christians is not something heroic or dramatic. For we please our Lord when, in the difficulties and disappointments of day-to-day life, we wait for him, when we trust his promise to work everything out for our good. When we do that, our trust is well placed because the God who delivered on his promise to wash us clean of our every sin is the One we can trust for absolutely everything.

Prayer:
Lord, empower me by your Spirit to wait. For I know that you will fulfill all your promises to me in your own good time. In the name of Christ, I pray. Amen.

Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man.
Luke 2:52

Family Priorities

Daily Devotion – January 4, 2025

Devotion based on Luke 2:52


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What do you want most for your family this year? Good health? Economic prosperity? A comfortable home? Great vacations? Harmonious relationships between parents and children? Great educational opportunities for your children? Popularity? Peace in this world?

Parents may consume most of their available time, making sure their children play on sports teams, participate in music lessons, and get to all their medical and dental appointments. They vacation, eat together in restaurants, and do all sorts of “family things.” All of these are good things, but all too frequently, God is either not included in family activities or relegated to a lower priority.

We can infer that Joseph and Mary made God’s Word a priority in their home. Luke gives us a glimpse of Jesus’ spiritual growth in Luke chapter two. Every year, the family obeyed Jewish law by going up to Jerusalem to celebrate the feast of the Passover. On one occasion, as a 12-year-old, Jesus took a seat among the teachers of the Word of God. The crowd that gathered around Jesus recognized that this was no ordinary boy. Obviously, Mary and Joseph had kept the “main thing the main thing.” Luke tells us that, “Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men.”

We cheat our families when we fail to make provision for family spiritual growth a priority every day and throughout the year. It’s not too late! Make Jesus and his Word your family’s top priority this year.

Prayer:
Gracious Father, forgive me for all my misplaced priorities. Help me in the new year to make your Word an important part of my daily living. Amen.

The Sovereign LORD has given me a well-instructed tongue, to know the word that sustains the weary.
Isaiah 50:4

Strength for the New Year

Daily Devotion – January 3, 2025

Devotion based on Isaiah 50:4


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The new year has just begun. Are you weary already?

You may have thought the new year would bring the turn of a page, a new start, the beginning of great new things. But then you may have discovered that the same problems hung around, and the same accusations rang in your ears, and the same hindrances kept you from being the best version of yourself.

What is to be done?

The Lord provides the answer. When Jesus came into this world, he encountered accusations and misunderstandings, mocking, spitting, and beatings. He endured all that for your sake, to make things right between you and God. You have peace with God through your Lord Jesus Christ.

That peace is the word that sustains the weary. The difficulties of this life are much easier to bear when you have someone to bear them with. Jesus is always there for you with his promises. Your weakness and your weariness do not scare him away.

Morning by morning, Jesus returns with his word of peace and forgiveness. Evening by evening, he comforts you with the assurance that he will always be with you.

If you are not weary now, you certainly will be sometime this year. Jesus will sustain you.

Prayer:
Lord, when I am weary, send me strength, and give me the peace that passes all understanding through Jesus Christ. Amen.

And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man.
Luke 2:52

Growth in the New Year

Daily Devotion – January 2, 2025

Devotion based on Luke 2:52


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Wait, what? It makes sense to me that Jesus would grow in stature. I mean, he came to earth as a baby after all, and he had to grow into an adult, so I understand the physical growth. But Jesus “grew in wisdom”? He is God! How could he get any wiser?

This verse of the Bible reminds us that when Jesus came to earth to be my Savior, he humbled himself, deciding not to make use of all the divine powers that he had from eternity. This verse of the Bible helps me to appreciate his sacrifice.

God the Father appreciated the sacrifice, too. “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased” (Matthew 3:17) were words that the Father spoke about his Son. Jesus also grew in favor with people as they saw the way he lived.

The more I hear about Jesus, the more he grows in favor with me as well. When I consider that he made the ultimate sacrifice for me, suffering hell and dying, I am moved to thankfulness and praise. Based on that, I want to grow even more in my appreciation of Jesus in the coming year.

Prayer:
Lord Jesus, let me love you more and more, always better than before. Amen.

Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.
Hebrews 2:18

Help With New Year’s Resolutions

Daily Devotion – January 1, 2025

Devotion based on Hebrews 2:18


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Happy New Year! Are you making any resolutions for the new year? Have you already broken them? It’s a time-honored tradition to resolve to do better in some way as you enter a new year. It’s also a time-honored tradition to fail quickly in your new resolve.

It doesn’t have to be a new year for you to resolve to fight harder against temptation. You are reminded of temptation every time you pray, “Lead us not into temptation,” in the Lord’s Prayer.

And the Lord you are praying to understands how difficult temptations can be. Jesus is God, and when he became human, he made himself subject to temptation. He even suffered when he was tempted. He knows what you are going through when you feel tempted.

He is able to help you when you are tempted. In his power and love, he provides a way out. And when you fall into temptation, he provides forgiveness and the promise of his continuing presence in your life.

Don’t let temptation drag you away from a Christian life. Cling to Jesus, he understands. His mercies are new every morning. Great is his faithfulness!

Happy New Year!

Prayer: (Christian Worship: Hymnal – 367)
Gracious God, in years to come, we pray your hand may guide us, and, onward through our journey home, your mercy walk beside us until at last our ransomed life is safe from peril, toil, and strife when heaven itself shall hide us. Amen.