Devotions from November 2022

Passage Read: 3 John 1 - Jude 1 Meditation Verses: 3 John 1:9-10 Diotrephes is an example of an immature believer who worked his way into power. Somehow he had gained influence over the whole church, and control, so that whomever he rants against, he…

Passage Read: Revelation 1-2 Meditation Verse: 2:20 The church in Thyatira allowed a women to teach, a woman who claims to be a prophetess, and she teaches God's children to go astray, to commit fornication and to eat idol sacrifices. Why is it that the…

Passage Read: Revelation 3-4 Meditation Verses: 3:15-16 It is not good to be lukewarm in deeds toward God; it is no better than being cold. The only works God is pleased with are hot works, zealous works for the Lord. The advantage of cold is…

Passage Read: Revelation 5-6 Meditation Verses: 5:9-10 This song is apparently sung by the four living creatures and the elders, and they sing that the Lamb purchased "us" for God out of every tribe and made "us" kings and priests to God to reign over…

Passage Read: Revelation 7-8 Meditation Verse: 7:3 Before God can begin His wrath on mankind, He marks a portion of the Jews from each remaining tribe, to protect them, and He removes all those who have believed in Christ from the earth. All non-Christian Jews…

Passage Read: Revelation 9-10 Meditation Verses: 9:5-6 These locust have power to torment men for five months, and though the men seek death, they cannot find it. They will not be able to kill themselves! But then the angels and their armies will be released…

Passage Read: Revelation 11-12 Meditation Verse: 11:18 The Lord will reward all the prophets and saints and all those who feared Him, whether small or great. He will reward them when He finishes His judgment on those who destroy the earth. That in itself is…

Passage Read: Revelation 13-14 Meditation Verses: 13:4-7 There are so many important things here to describe the beast. He has a deadly wound that's healed, and all the nations marvel at him and follow him. Because of him, they worship the dragon who gave his…

Passage Read: Revelation 15-16 Meditation Verse: 16:21 At this point, all seems lost. These last plagues are horrible in nature, yet still no one repents. Instead, they blaspheme God. They have no doubt about who is in charge of these plagues, and they are gathering…

Passage Read: Revelation 17-18 Meditation Verses: 18:4-5 Whatever place Babylon here represents, the Lord urges His people to separate themselves from it, so they they do not share in her sins nor suffer her consequences. Like Lot dwelling in Sodom, he managed to keep himself…

Passage Read: Revelation 19-20 Meditation Verses: 20:7-9 It is amazing to me that after a thousand years of the reign of Christ, Satan would be able to deceive the nations and rally them again for war. Will they not have enjoyed and appreciated the rule…

Passage Read: Revelation 21-22 Meditation Verse: 22:9 We together with the angels are slaves of God. But no one wants to hear that today. We are offended by the notion that we would belong solely and completely to another, having no rights whatsoever, but be…

Passage Read: Genesis 1-4 Meditation Verse: 4:16 Cain was cursed and sent away from the ground that accepted his brother's blood and from the presence of the Lord. He would be a restless wanderer and the ground would not produce fruit for him. He had…

Passage Read: Genesis 5-8 Meditation Verse: 7:1 No matter how bad everyone else gets, we can still remain righteous and find favor with God. It is no excuse to give in to wickedness because there is no one else left doing what is right. Just…

Passage Read: Genesis 9-12 Meditation Verses: 12:11-13 Abram did not yet know the Lord well, so he depended on his own wisdom to keep himself alive. But his wisdom backfired, and while it kept him alive and obtained for him preferential treatment, it lost him…

Passage Read: Genesis 13-16 Meditation Verses: 16:8-9 The Lord knew full well that Ishmael would not inherit Abram's promise; He would reckon Abram's descendants through Isaac, not Ishmael. He could have let Hagar continue to wander with Ishmael, taken care of them and fulfilled His…

Passage Read: Genesis 17-20 Meditation Verse: 17:23 Even the slaves were included in God's promise to Abraham. It was not just for flesh-and-blood members of his family, but everyone who belonged to him. His neighbors and friends weren't included, but those born in his household…

Passage Read: Genesis 21-24 Meditation Verses: 24:12-14 If someone told me today that they had done something like this to find their wife, I would think they were careless. The servant made sure to confirm that Rebekah was from Abraham's relatives, which helped confirm that…

Passage Read: Genesis 25-28 Meditation Verses: 28:20-22 It seems Jacob had not yet adopted the Lord as his God. His father honored and obeyed the Lord, who didn't ask much of him, but apparently was not very deliberate in teaching his sons about the Lord.

Passage Read: Genesis 29-32 Meditation Verses: 32:9-12 After all Jacob had experienced, how God had preserved him through all of Laban's schemes, yet when he prepared to face his brother, he feared for his life and the lives of his family. He knew what God…

Passage Read: Genesis 33-36 Meditation Verses: 33:18-20 Jacob had been with Laban twenty years. After seven years he received his first two wives, so he had all his sons and daughters except Benjamin in about 13 years, then he returned to the land of Canaan.

Passage Read: Genesis 37-40 Meditation Verses: 40:14-15 Joseph saw a chance to get free of his imprisonment, perhaps correctly discerning that this was a way the Lord might use to free him. And he would be correct, except that the time was not yet ripe…

Passage Read: Genesis 41-44 Meditation Verses: 44:33-34 The brothers didn't think about their father when they got rid of Joseph. Now that they had lived so many years with the lie that Joseph was dead and seen how gravely it affected their father, they were…

Passage Read: Genesis 45-48 Meditation Verse: 45:5 For how many years was Joseph a slave and then in prison? He had been raised up over Egypt for nine years at this point, and all his years of anguish we're gone to him, forgotten. He knew…

Passage Read: Genesis 49 - Exodus 2 Meditation Verse: Genesis 50:19 As highly exalted as Joseph was, he didn't consider it his place to exact revenge on his brothers. More amazingly, he doesn't seem the least bit bitter about what they did. It brought amazing…

Passage Read: Exodus 3-6 Meditation Verse: 6:12 Moses was more concerned about his own speaking ability. He didn't realize all the Lord had planned, especially His mighty works that would compel Pharaoh to let Israel go. He thought it depended on him, but it actually…

Passage Read: Exodus 7-10 Meditation Verse: 10:1-2 The Lord could have called His people out of Egypt at any time, but instead, He acted as if Pharaoh actually had a say in their departure, as if he actually had authority over them. If He didn't…

Passage Read: Exodus 11-14 Meditation Verse: 14:31 If only this would last. Panic, deprivation, discomfort, any number of things would erode this fear and awe of the Lord, and they would be complaining and grumbling against the Lord, as if they had never seen His…

Passage Read: Exodus 15-18 Meditation Verses: 16:3-4 The people grumble, then God acts. Does God not know their need for bread and water? Of course He does! But the people don't have the same patience, nor do they respect the Lord enough to fear criticizing…

Passage Read: Exodus 19-22 Meditation Verses: 22:25-27 We are more concerned about making money than about genuinely carrying for the needs of others. But God wants us to be more caring of others than we are of profit. So we aren't supposed to charge interest…