Recent Devotions
“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you . . . Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect.” (Matthew 5:43-44, 48, NKJV) When Jesus gave what we refer to as the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7), He packed a lot into that one discourse. We are familiar with the Beatitudes, but Jesus talked about so…
“Now Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died.” (John 11:21, NKJV). Friendship is a great thing. Before opening ourselves up to a new friend, we usually look for qualities like common interests, trust, loyalty, dependability, supportiveness. So it was puzzling when…
Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. I have sworn an oath and confirmed it, to keep your righteous rules. (Psalm 119:105-106, ESV) There’s a saying that rules are made to be broken. But is this really true? Do we even want it…
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“What do you think? If a man has a hundred sheep, and one of them goes astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine and go to the mountains to seek the one that is straying?” (Matthew 18:12, New King James Version). Jesus often spoke in parables, stories or word pictures easy for His listeners to understand. Although the settings may not be as familiar in our day, the teachings are timeless. One such illustration told of a man with one hundred sheep, but one had strayed from the rest of the flock. The shepherd left the flock to search for…
Matthew 23:1-3 NLT “Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples, ‘The teachers of religious law and the Pharisees are the official interpreters of the law of Moses. So practice and obey whatever they tell you, but don’t follow their example. For they don’t practice what they teach.’ ” The entire twenty third chapter of Matthew is filled with Jesus letting the Pharisees know what sorrow awaits them. It does get quite intense, as Jesus over and over again reminds them of the fact that they aren’t practicing what they preach, and that they ultimately won’t get to heaven.…
“And her adversary also provoked her sore, for to make her fret, because the LORD had shut up her womb. And as he did so year by year, when she went up to the house of the LORD, so she provoked her; therefore she wept, and did not eat.” I Samuel 1:6-7 Hannah had a problem. She was barren. In those days that was a sign of reproach. It was not because of any sin in her life that caused her to be that way. Verse six of Chapter 1 tells us that the Lord had shut up her womb.…
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“When my glory passes by, I will put you in a cleft in the rock and cover you with my hand until I have passed by.” (Exodus 33:22 in the New International Version.) During a recent vacation in the mountains of North Carolina I observed clefts tucked away in the rocks. They looked like little porches where a bird or small animal could stay to weather out a storm. This portion of scripture let Moses know that God was going to shelter him in time of storm. 1 Corinthians 10:4 said, “That rock was Christ.” It’s not speaking of these clefts but it’s talking about our God being a refuge. As we were walking and observing God’s beautiful creation my mind went to this passage. These clefts are not man made; they are made by God alone. He formed them with His own hands. He shelters us from the storms of life when we belong to Him.
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Prayer: Lord, I thank you for the special shelters You have prepared for Your people. Though the storm rages on all around me, I’m protected by the cleft of the rock.
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Devotion by Kaye Singleton
