Recent Devotions
“But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory both now and forever. Amen.” (II Peter 3:18, NKJV) Sometimes a little phrase in a single verse brings me to a halt in my Bible reading. One morning recently I stopped at the phrase “grow in grace.” I asked myself, am I doing that? And then I began to reflect on what it meant to grow in grace and knowledge. Growth is a process that leads to maturity. It is progressive. Think of the birth of a child. Cute and cuddly but…
Exodus 14:19-20 MSG “The angel of God that had been leading the camp of Israel now shifted and got behind them. And the Pillar of Cloud that had been in front also shifted to the rear. The Cloud was now between the camp of Egypt and the camp of Israel.…
Exodus 14:22-25 MSG “The Israelites walked through the sea on dry ground with the waters a wall to the right and to the left. The Egyptians came after them in full pursuit, every horse and chariot and driver of Pharaoh racing into the middle of the sea. It was now…
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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.…
