Devotions from August 2022

Passage Read: Luke 9-10 Meditation Verses: 9:52-56 James and John wanted to call down fire on the Samaritans who didn't welcome Jesus. They were thinking of Elijah who called down fire on the soldiers sent to bring him to the king. Three times, he called…

Passage Read: Luke 11-12 Meditation Verses: 12:51-53 Jesus didn't come to destroy men's lives, but neither did He come to make everyone happy. His Gospel and His demands of righteousness will divide even families, how much more societies! He came to bring life, but men…

Passage Read: Luke 13-14 Meditation Verses: 14:25-26 It's like Jesus was trying to scare away those who followed Him. Great crowds followed Him and He warned them that only those who love Him more than family or life could be His disciple. How is that…

Passage Read: Luke 15-16 Meditation Verse: 15:1 The Scripture notes that tax collectors and sinners were coming to Jesus to listen to Him, and the religious leaders remarked that Jesus received them and even ate with them. Jesus then spoke three illustrations to explain the…

Passage Read: Luke 17-18 Meditation Verse: 17:1 It is impossible to keep offenses from coming because the Lord has chosen to show mercy even on those who hate Him. He allowed the sinful to endure, because if not, no one would be saved. Some sinful…

Passage Read: Luke 19-20 Meditation Verse: 19:27 For now, Jesus puts up with those hostile to Him, who refuse to have Him reign over them. Christians are those who should accept His reign even now. We are supposed to be acknowledging Him as Lord and…

Passage Read: Luke 21-22 Meditation Verses: 22:31-32 Satan asked to sift Peter, and obviously received permission. But Jesus prayed for Him, yet not that he would be delivered from the sifting, but that his faith would survive it. And Jesus' petition was also granted, so…

Passage Read: Luke 23-24 Meditation Verse: 23:34 I am so easily angered when things don't go my way. I don't understand the eternal value of anything I suffer. Jesus had complete confidence in the Father's will for Him, to suffer and be crucified. He had…

Passage Read: John 1-2 Meditation Verses: 2:23-24 Jesus did miracles and many people believed in His name, but Jesus didn't entrust Himself to them. He knew what was in man. He knew that men were capable of amassing a mob and coming by force to…

Passage Read: John 3-4 Meditation Verse: 3:21 There is an implication here that those who come to Jesus are those who desire to do right, those who desire righteousness. They are willing to come to the Light, to Jesus, that their deeds, their actions and…

Passage Read: John 5-6 Meditation Verses: 6:60-61 Jesus said some hard things, not just to those who refused to believe in Him, but also to those who followed Him. He wasn't afraid to offend with the truth. He was in fact more concerned about speaking…

Passage Read: John 7-8 Meditation Verses: 8:42-44 Jesus pulls no punches here. He makes it clear that these Jews who argue with Him are not from God, but the devil. When Jesus says they cannot hear what He is saying, He doesn't mean they are…

Passage Read: John 9-10 Meditation Verse: 9:22 How hard it is to take a chance on God, who is not right beside us at all times. Word of Jesus' words and deeds had spread far and wide. His parents knew about Jesus and could see…

Passage Read: John 11-12 Meditation Verses: 12:27-28 Jesus understood what was coming, and it caused Him stress. He knew He had a choice, that He could flee. But He also knew that He had come into the world for this very hour. From the beginning…

Passage Read: John 13-14 Meditation Verses: 13:3-4 The key to true humility is knowing what has been done for me, who I belong to and where I am going. Jesus knew that He was promised everything for His obedience to the Father. He knew that…

Passage Read: John 15-16 Meditation Verse: 16:19 We usually ask one another when we do not understand the things God says. That is only helpful to the degree that there are some among us who have walked with God longer and more closely than us.

Passage Read: John 17-18 Meditation Verses: 18:22-23 There are many things that people declare to be wrong, that people will accuse me of doing wrong, but not all things they call wrong are indeed wrong. Some do not really understand right from wrong. Some are…

Passage Read: John 19-20 Meditation Verse: 20:27 Jesus had mercy on Thomas, though he doubted Jesus' resurrection. He wasn't insulted or angered that Thomas doubted, but offered up His hands and side for Thomas to touch. It doesn't appear that Thomas touched the wounds, but…

Passage Read: John 21 - Acts 1 Meditation Verse: John 21:16 Jesus asks Simon Peter three times if he loved Him, and three times commissioned him to feed His sheep. Once for every time Peter denied Him. It is interesting that Jesus made feeding His…

Passage Read: Acts 2-3 Meditation Verses: 3:12,16 Miraculous signs weren't to draw attention to the worker, but the Lord. The man was healed by the faith that Peter had (or the man himself had when Peter told him to stand). The miracle would win a…

Passage Read: Acts 4-5 Meditation Verses: 5:25-26 The apostles were arrested after helping a man, yet people still believed and joined the disciples! They were arrested, jailed, and an angel set them free and told them to go preach again about Jesus in the Temple.

Passage Read: Acts 6-7 Meditation Verses: 6:2-5 The apostles, though twelve, couldn't do it all. They were not unwilling to do good, but the need to teach and commune with God was greater than the need to care for the widows. Instead they called for…

Passage Read: Acts 8-9 Meditation Verses: 8:22-23 These were strong words for Simon, who only wanted to be able to share the Holy Spirit with others. But what Peter said was true, Simon's heart was not right. He had been famous and looked up to…

Passage Read: Acts 10-11 Meditation Verse: 10:35 "In every nation, the one fearing God and working righteousness is acceptable to God." Cornelius learned of God from the Jews, and believed in God and worked righteousness because of his faith in God. But he wasn't saved.

Passage Read: Acts 12-13 Meditation Verses: 13:30-33 This is incredible, to proclaim that God raised Jesus from the dead and only a few people far away are witnesses. How can anyone believe this to be true? But that is the challenge and the miracle, that…

Passage Read: Acts 14-15 Meditation Verse: 15:10 The Pharisees were saying that the new Gentile converts needed to be circumcised and keep the whole Law of Moses. Peter answers and says that the whole Law was a burden that none of them have been able…

Passage Read: Acts 16-17 Meditation Verses: 17:30-31 Paul's message to Gentiles was repent and believe in Jesus, the man raised to live again whom God appointed to judge the world in righteousness. Men are no longer allowed to believe whatever they want, but must accept…

Passage Read: Acts 18-19 Meditation Verse: 18:6 Paul thought of his ministry in the same way Ezekiel was taught his. He was a watchman and expected to warn everyone he could. He began with Jews, wherever he went, but turned to Gentiles when the Jews…

Passage Read: Acts 20-21 Meditation Verses: 21:11-14 The Spirit revealed to many people along the way that Paul would be arrested and imprisoned in Jerusalem. Many people took that as reason for Paul not to go to Jerusalem. But Paul didn't. In fact, he was…

Passage Read: Acts 22-23 Meditation Verse: 23:11 The Lord intended for Paul to testify at Rome. That was a promise that Paul could bank on. Though the Spirit had warned that he would be bound in Jerusalem, and most of the believers who heard it…

Passage Read: Acts 24-25 Meditation Verses: 25:2-3 After two years of Paul in prison, the Jews still demand his death as one of the first things mentioned to the new governor. Had he continued to be a threat and a problem to them? Was he…