Devotions from November 2024

Passage Read: 2 Timothy 3-4 Meditation Verses: 4:17-18 After all Paul has been through in his service to Jesus Christ, after all he has experienced of Jesus, he continues to preach the Gospel even while on trial for his life. He senses that the end…

Passage Read: Titus 1-2 Meditation Verse: 2:15 The servant of God is called to teach what is in accord with sound doctrine, so that those who listen to him will not be people who claim to know God but deny Him by their actions. These…

Passage Read: Titus 3 - Philemon 1 Meditation Verses: Titus 3:1-3 The reason Paul gives for his command to be obedient to authorities and kind and considerate to all people is because we also once walked in the sinful lusts of the flesh and the…

Passage Read: Hebrews 1-2 Meditation Verses: 2:8-9 We know that it is to Jesus that all things have been subjected; He has received that promise. All authority in heaven and on earth have been given to Him, but He does not yet visibly reign over…

Passage Read: Hebrews 3-4 Meditation Verses: 3:16-19 Belief and obedience are inextricably linked. You cannot have obedience to God without belief, and you cannot belief without obedience to God. Those who failed to enter God's rest all heard from God through Moses. It wasn't as…

Passage Read: Hebrews 5-6 Meditation Verses: 6:4-6 The author is talking about a true conversion here. One who was enlightened: No one comes to Jesus unless the Father draws him; no one believes in Jesus without the eye-opening work of the Spirit. More than that,…

Passage Read: Hebrews 7-8 Meditation Verses: 8:9-11 The Old Covenant was given with fire and smoke and earthquake and the sound of a trumpet. Very impressive and frightening, to impress God's Words onto the hearts of the people, to impress His greatness into their hearts.

Passage Read: Hebrews 9-10 Meditation Verses: 10:26-31 A few verses earlier, the author reminds us that we have had our consciences sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. We have been made holy by the sacrifice of Jesus Christ…

Passage Read: Hebrews 11-12 Meditation Verses: 11:1-2 By faith, the men of old gained approval. By faith, believing God, they not only adjusted their thinking, but changed their lives, their behavior, attempted impossible things and succeeded. Because they believed God when He spoke and did…

Passage Read: Hebrews 13 - James 1 Meditation Verses: James 1:6-8 There should be no doubt when asking for wisdom, because God does want to give it to everyone. It is not hard to find: the fear of the Lord is the beginning of it,…

Passage Read: James 2-3 Meditation Verses: 3:16-18 Earthly, natural, demonic wisdom ignores bitter jealousy and selfish ambition. It denies the existence of such things in the heart and justifies every expression of bitterness and jealousy and selfish ambition. So it produces disorder and every evil…

Passage Read: James 4-5 Meditation Verses: 5:6-9 Twice in his letter, James warns believers against complaining against one another or judging each other. But in both cases, he is rebuking wrong behavior! He is judging believers, pointing out their faults and calling them to repent!…

Passage Read: 1 Peter 1-2 Meditation Verses: 1:17-19 What happened to "perfect love drives out all fear"? I suppose if we have perfect love for the Father, we would do all He asks and so have no fear of His judgment. If we understand what…

Passage Read: 1 Peter 3-4 Meditation Verses: 4:7-11 We're supposed to live for the will of God, but what does that look like? Peter has mentioned many things already, but here he points out several commands which suggest a heavy emphasis on caring for one…

Passage Read: 1 Peter 5 - 2 Peter 1 Meditation Verses: 1 Peter 5:8-10 The devil is prowling around, looking for someone to devour. He is not silent. He hasn't given up, even when we have trusted in Christ and surrendered our lives to Him.

Passage Read: 2 Peter 2-3 Meditation Verse: 2:8 He doesn't say what Lot did in response to the torment of his soul, but Peter acknowledges that he was tormented daily by the lawless deeds of the men around him. I live in an age where…

Passage Read: 1 John 1-2 Meditation Verses: 2:10-11 Love for brothers is key to walking in the light so as to guard a believer from stumbling. Love for other believers protects us from sinning! But the one who hates his brother is still walking in…

Passage Read: 1 John 3-4 Meditation Verses: 3:5-8 "Let no one deceive you." John here says that no one who abides in Jesus continues to sin, but he practices righteousness and therefore is righteous. That seems heretical to my modern ears. I have been trained…

Passage Read: 1 John 5 - 2 John 1 Meditation Verse: 1 John 5:1 "Whoever loves the Father, loves the child born of Him." At first read, this seems like a command that I have to love every Christian, which would be true if every…

Passage Read: 3 John 1 - Jude 1 Meditation Verse: Jude 1:3-4 Jude urges the believers to fight diligently for the faith, the gospel that once for all was handed down to us by the Apostles. Why do we need to fight for it? Because…

Passage Read: Revelation 1-2 Meditation Verses: 2:19-20 The church at Thyatira is growing in dedication, love and obedience, but they have among them a woman who considers herself a prophetess, who teaches immorality and eating food sacrificed to idols. Some in the church follow her,…

Passage Read: Revelation 3-4 Meditation Verses: 3:1-4 The church at Sardis appears to be alive, but Jesus says they are dead. They're not yet lost, because He calls them to wake up and strengthen the things that are about to die. There is still something…

Passage Read: Revelation 5-6 Meditation Verse: 6:2 I keep thinking this has to represent a person, but it's a spirit like the rest, perhaps an angel. He is a spirit of conquering and apparently incites rulers to go out and conquer. The next spirit has…

Passage Read: Revelation 7-8 Meditation Verse: 7:3 God is very gracious to His people. Those who have trusted in Christ will be taken out of the world before He pours out His wrath on unbelieving mankind. Since the nations will be punished, He brings out…

Passage Read: Revelation 9-10 Meditation Verses: 9:20-21 Mankind was tormented for five months, at which time they looked for death but could not find it. They wanted to die, but God withheld death from them. Then at the next trumpet, God sent an angelic army…

Passage Read: Revelation 11-12 Meditation Verses: 11:11-14 The second woe, the sixth trumpet, has to do with these two prophets who torment the earth by their warnings and call all to repentance. They are perhaps explaining everything that is happening as the work of God,…

Passage Read: Revelation 13-14 Meditation Verses: 13:7-10 The beast is given authority over all the nations, which means Christians will be safe no where. Every nation will be required to pledge allegiance to the beast, to take his mark to buy and sell. He will…

Passage Read: Revelation 15-16 Meditation Verses: 16:5-6 God repays all men according to their deeds. The righteous, those who believe in the Lord will be blessed by Him with a share in His kingdom. The wicked, all the men of this last generation, the men…

Passage Read: Revelation 17-18 Meditation Verses: 18:19-20 While the entire earth mourns the destruction of Babylon, there are two groups of people who rejoice: the Antichrist and his people, and the saints of God. In this one act, the devil and God are united; indeed,…

Passage Read: Revelation 19-20 Meditation Verse: 19:15 "He treads the winepress of the fierce wrath of God, the Almighty." Not just wrath but fierce wrath. We think God is so calm and merciful and gracious, but He's also filled with fierce wrath because men scorn…