Devotions from September 2024

Passage Read: John 11-12 Meditation Verses: 12:49-50 Jesus doesn't come up with His own thoughts and wisdom, but He only says what His Father has commanded Him to say. The Father's command is eternal life, so He is careful to speak just as the Father…

Passage Read: John 13-14 Meditation Verses: 14:12-14 This seems like such a great promise, such a huge promise. The works that Jesus did, those who believe in Him will do greater things. He has done some pretty spectacular miracles! But He promises that those who…

Passage Read: John 15-16 Meditation Verses: 15:26-27 The disciples would not be alone in their testifying about Jesus. The Holy Spirit would also be testifying to the whole world. The Spirit's testimony is what makes our testimony powerful and effective. It's also what makes our…

Passage Read: John 17-18 Meditation Verses: 17:14-18 Jesus sends His disciples into the world, even though the world hates them. He sends us into the world just as the Father sent Him into the world, to testify of its deeds, that they are evil, and…

Passage Read: John 19-20 Meditation Verse: 19:11 Jesus here is saying what Paul later explains, that all authority on earth is appointed by God. God established authorities, not just those that acknowledge Him, but even those that have no idea He exists. God is a…

Passage Read: John 21 - Acts 1 Meditation Verses: John 21:17-18 Jesus adjusts His question to meet Peter where he is. Jesus first asks if Peter loves Him with a sacrificial love, but after denying Jesus three times, Peter no longer dares claim such a…

Passage Read: Acts 2-3 Meditation Verse: 3:15 The resurrection of Jesus is the assurance that all He taught, all He claimed about Himself, and all He promised to those who believe in Him is true. It is the evidence we need to believe in Him.

Passage Read: Acts 4-5 Meditation Verse: 5:33 This is the third time the apostles were arrested, and their courage and boldness remain undimmed. They were just imprisoned, but released by an angel and told to preach in the temple first thing in the morning. Is…

Passage Read: Acts 6-7 Meditation Verse: 7:60 Stephen drew from history to show how disobedient and rebellious the Jews were, especially this leadership. He called them out for their sin in no uncertain terms, calling them stiff-necked and uncircumcised of heart, the betrayers and murderers…

Passage Read: Acts 8-9 Meditation Verses: 8:21-23 Simon believed the Gospel at Philip's preaching, but he used to be someone great, called the "Great Power of God." But he saw in Philip and the Gospel something greater, and when the apostles came to give the…

Passage Read: Acts 10-11 Meditation Verses: 10:34-35 Cornelius believed in the God of the Jews, that He was indeed the one true God. He turned away from his own gods and accepted the conditions and restraints and lesser position Gentiles had in the Jewish world.

Passage Read: Acts 12-13 Meditation Verse: 13:10 Elymas was a Jewish false prophet, who served the proconsul. When the proconsul invited Paul and Barnabas to explain the Gospel to him, Elymas opposed them and worked at turning the proconsul away from the message. According to…

Passage Read: Acts 14-15 Meditation Verse: 14:22 Paul and Barnabas have suffered tribulation in their efforts to take the Gospel to the nations of the Roman empire, but what tribulations do the people who remain at home need to go through? There is perhaps hatred…

Passage Read: Acts 16-17 Meditation Verses: 17:24-27 Paul is not afraid to speak the truth, even if it's offensive to people. He is not offering an alternative religion that people can choose to believe or not, but telling them the truth about the universe, that…

Passage Read: Acts 18-19 Meditation Verse: 19:6 Paul was filled with the Holy Spirit, though Luke didn't record him receiving the Spirit like this, with a noteworthy response. Yet Paul was laying hands on others and the Spirit was coming on them. Paul went on…

Passage Read: Acts 20-21 Meditation Verses: 21:11-14 Paul and those with him, representatives from each of the churches that gave a gift for the Jews in Jerusalem, kept hearing that Jerusalem would end badly for Paul. So in several of the places where they stopped,…