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Daily Devotions

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“Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them.” Hebrews 7:25⁠ ⁠ Genesis 3 gives us a picture of a world gripped by the curse of sin. Sin and sorrow abounded as sin took its natural course. Brokenness became the natural state of mankind. Satan gloated and jumped with glee. Mankind was under his power.⁠ ⁠ There remained a few who held to the promises of a Savior and this thread of hope ran through the generations as Creation groaned and suffered and waiting.⁠ In the fulness of time, Jesus came, lived, died and rose triumphant. He defeated sin and death. He broke the chains. ⁠ ⁠ Satan has NO power and claim on those who will receive the free gift of salvation. There is no sin too black, no addiction too strong, there is no such thing as “too far gone” or “beyond hope” because the blood of Jesus has power to cleanse to the uttermost all that come to Him in Faith. To every corner of the sin-sick world, just as far as the curse is found, THAT is where salvation will transform from darkness to light. ⁠ ⁠ This is true hope of Christmas!⁠ Never give up on yourself. Never give up on those you love who are bound in sin. Keep praying and keep believing. ⁠ ⁠ The truth remains that ⁠ ⁠ “He comes to make his blessings flow, far as the curse is found.”⁠ No more let sins and sorrows grow,⁠ Nor thorns infest the ground;⁠ He comes to make His blessings flow⁠ Far as the curse is found,⁠ Far as the curse is found,⁠ Far as, far as, the curse is found.⁠ ⁠ -René Smith⁠
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“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ.” Ephesians 1:3 ⁠ ⁠ “Oh, how sublime is the life of the Christian,⁠ Filled with the glory of Jesus divine;⁠ Deep in his bosom he’s joyfully conscious⁠ That he is born of a heavenly line.”⁠ ⁠ There is no existence so joyfully blissful as the life of a Christian redeemed back to God, forgiven of sin, and raised to life anew. We are joint heirs with Jesus and eternal life is our possession. The Holy Spirit fills the heart and impulses the heart, mind and life to walk in holiness. Sin has NO MORE dominion over us! ⁠ ⁠ The world can go on; give me Jesus alone. He comes to make His blessings flow and they are flowing still: rivers of peace, joy in trials, power over temptation, and glorious freedom. Come, partake of the glories of Salvation! Jesus brought it, paid for it, and sits at the right hand of the Father right now interceding for you. ⁠ ⁠ -René Smith⁠ ⁠ Refrain:⁠ I am a child, a child of the King,⁠ I am a child, a child of the King;⁠ I am a prince in the kingdom of love,⁠ I am a child of the King. ⁠ ⁠ Song: I Am a Child of the King by D. S. Warner⁠
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“For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil.” 1 John 3:8b⁠ ⁠ The Christmas story begins in an unlikely place. If asked, many would say in the Gospels, with an angel’s visit, with a virgin and her betrothed. But the need for Hope was found in a garden when the first woman encountered a serpent, partaking then of forbidden fruit and when the first man decided to doubt God’s Word and follow the path of temptation yielding to sin. ⁠ ⁠ It began with banishment and thorns and pain. It was followed by death and the reign of the serpent was unbroken for centuries. By placing the story of Christ’s birth in the larger storyline of the Bible it opens up its significance to us.⁠ ⁠ Genesis 3:15 is the first Messianic prophecy of Scripture. ⁠ “I will put enmity between you and the woman,⁠ and between your offspring and her offspring;⁠ he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.” Amplified Version⁠ ⁠ God implemented the ritual of sacrifice for sins. He sent Moses to lead His children to the Promised Land. He gave Kings to lead them, but all led imperfectly, and God’s chosen people often strayed, complained, worshipped idols, married idolaters, fell into captivity of heathen nations, repented of their sin until God would deliver them. ⁠ ⁠ Then, in the fulness of time, God sent his Son, born of a Virgin into the world. Born of flesh to condemn sin in the flesh. When Christ died, that serpent bruised his heel, but on the third day Christ rose triumphant and in the life of every Christian he daily ‘bruises Satan's head’. Our victory comes from Christ!⁠ ⁠ Come, Desire of nations, come,⁠ fix in us thy humble home;⁠ rise, the woman’s conquering Seed,⁠ bruise in us the serpent’s head.⁠ Adam’s likeness, Lord, efface;⁠ stamp thine image in its place.⁠ Second Adam from above,⁠ Reinstate us in thy love.⁠ Hark! the herald angels sing,⁠ "Glory to the new born King!"⁠ ⁠
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There is not a friend like Jesus. I have been meditating recently on how God created us to communicate with Him. Our soul craves that prayer time when we can have sweet communion with Jesus. In a world that is still rejecting the Christ child, how precious it is that we can call on “that friend that sticketh closer than a brother.” He fearfully and wonderfully made us and takes pleasure in helping us through our trials and troubles of life. He wants us to depend on Him for our strength and help. ⁠ ⁠ Let us trust and remain faithful and true to Him no matter what comes our way. Don’t think it strange when we’re tested, Jesus was born to be our Savior and our friend. What a friend we have in Jesus. He wants us to cast all our cares upon Him, today’s troubles and the futures. These are too burdensome to carry, and often very sinful, when they arise from unbelief and distrust, when they torture and distract our mind it will keep us unfit for the purpose and work God has for us to do. They will hinder our delight in the service of God too. ⁠ ⁠ The remedy is, to cast our care upon God, and leave every event to his wise and gracious disposal. A firm steadfast faith and belief that God’s Divine will and counsels are always right, will calm the spirit of a man and bring lasting peace. Truly the godly too often forget this, and fret themselves for no reason. ⁠ ⁠ God has spiritual comfort available to us. We live below our benefits too often! Then, will God not furnish what is fit for us, if we humbly trust him, and lay the care of providing for us, upon his wisdom and love? Submit your trust today to the greatest friend you will ever know.⁠ ⁠ —Tammy Edwards⁠
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“Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:” Romans 5:1⁠ ⁠ The power of the gospel rests in this transformation from darkness to light, from evil to good and from sin to righteousness. The sinner is at complete odds with a Holy God. Man is not equipped to deal with sin. As such, their living is continual death as Satan came to steal, kill, and to destroy. Mankind may try to do good works or to rehabilitate themselves from sinful behaviors, but they can never attain salvation or escape the sentence of death that rests upon all sinners. ⁠ ⁠ “And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled In the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight” Colossians 1:20-22 ⁠ ⁠ If you are a sinner, put your faith in the saving atonement of Jesus’ death on the Cross, confess your sin and repent. You will receive forgiveness and be delivered from the power of darkness and brought into the kingdom of his dear Son. (Colossians 1:13)⁠ ⁠ Hark! the herald angels sing,⁠ "Glory to the newborn King!⁠ Peace on earth, and mercy mild,⁠ God and sinners reconciled."⁠ Joyful, all ye nations, rise,⁠ Join the triumph of the skies;⁠ With th' angelic host proclaim,⁠ "Christ is born in Bethlehem."⁠ Hark! the herald angels sing,⁠ "Glory to the newborn King!"⁠
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“And they came with haste, and found Mary, and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger.” Luke 2:16⁠ ⁠ O Come, all ye faithful! There is a sense of urgency to this hymn. Imagine a child, tugging at your hand, saying insistently, “Let’s go, let’s go, let’s go!” In the same way, imagine someone pulling at your sleeve or grasping you by the hand, half dragging you as they run through the crowd, saying over and over again, “Come!” ⁠ ⁠ We are told that patience is a virtue, but in this case, impatience is a beautiful thing. For who could stand by and wait when all we want to do is worship our Lord and Savior? Albert Bailey writes, “The poet takes us by the hand and leads us with triumphant song to the cave of the Nativity in Bethlehem, shows us the Babe, and bids us adore” (The Gospel in Hymns, 279). This hymn invites us to sing with the angels, sing with our families, sing with our fellow believers, and with every fiber of our being, worship Christ the Lord.⁠ ⁠ O come let us adore him,⁠ O come let us adore him,⁠ O come let us adore him,⁠ Christ the Lord.⁠ ⁠ Take a few moments right now to singularly worship the Lord. Thank Him for the price He paid for your Salvation. Praise Him for taking up human flesh and subjecting himself to the sufferings of this life so He would know your sufferings as well. O come! Let us adore Him.
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“For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God.” Romans 8:19⁠ ⁠ Waiting is the embodiment of faith. The Israelite nation waited centuries for their eternal King. Waiting develops patience and deepens the value of that for which we wait. It fixes the object of our expectation upon God and causes us to open ourselves more fully to His dealings.⁠ ⁠ Anna and Simeon waited for the Promise of the Messiah and were found faithfully serving God when He appeared. Are you waiting for God to appear in a certain area of your life? Are you willing to wait? Are you opening your heart for God to speak in your season of waiting? God keeps His promises. Fix your eternal hopes on Him and in your time of waiting, reflect and strengthen your faith. ⁠ ⁠ Christmas is a season of hope and expectation. Let us take daily moments this month leading up to December 25th to reflect on the deeper, holier implications of the Season. ⁠ ⁠ May the cry of our hearts be, ⁠ “Come, Desire of Nations, come,⁠ Fix in Us thy humble Home.” ⁠ ⁠ René Smith
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“Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power.” Revelations 4:11a⁠ ⁠ Christmas is a season of joy and festivity, a celebration of hopes realized. As Christians, it is an opportunity to share even more openly with the world that Christ is the reason for our hope. The secular world has filled Christmas with icons, practices and traditions that can distract from the purity and holy wonder of worshiping Christ, who came in human flesh as a defenseless baby in a manger. They worship the gift rather than the Giver.⁠ ⁠ It is a wise thing to consider our observations of the season and ask ourselves, “Does this detract from Christ being the focus, or does it reflect to the world that Jesus really is the reason for all we do?” Sometimes we can get so busy with fulfilling expectations placed by ourselves or others that we miss the point of placing the importance upon Jesus himself. ⁠ ⁠ What are your plans for this month? What are ways that you can purposely, intentionally worship the Savior in your personal prayer and devotional life? What gift would Jesus love more than for you to draw closer than ever before to Him this month? ⁠ ⁠ René Smith⁠
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“Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. ⁠ Philippians 4:6⁠ ⁠ God knows our needs and desires before we even ask. God wants us to express our thanksgiving for the mercy we have been given and value it. He wants us to realize our dependence on Him. When we start our prayers with thanksgiving our sorrows will cease and we will be overcome with such gratefulness our needs and wants will fade. It is the recipe for a godly contentment and peace in our souls. ⁠ ⁠ Friend don’t be discouraged as you travel along through this life. Focus on all the blessings God has given you. The enemy can’t torment a grateful rejoicing heart for long. Follow this Biblical guideline in your prayers. ⁠ ⁠ Be challenged in your prayer life to come before God with a heart full of thanksgiving and praise. It will make all the difference and change your perspective on your troubles. ⁠ ⁠ “Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving, and make a joyful noise unto him with psalms.”⁠ Psalm 95:2⁠ ⁠ Tammy Edwards
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James 1:27 Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world.⁠ ⁠ In the busyness of life, and especially in this season of joy and celebration, it is easy to get lost in the "things" we are busy with and lose a sense of connection with others. ⁠ ⁠ God knew the importance of human connection when he said to visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction. Don't just leave a basket on the step. Step inside and share a laugh, maybe even a tear or two, and a prayer. Who are the ones in your life that are alone? Who has suffered loss and grief in the past few years? Who is single and has quiet empty evenings? Who is an empty nester struggling with the sudden lack of activity in the home? Who is struggling silently with depression, anxiety or discouragement?⁠ ⁠ Pure religion is to cultivate eyes to see and ears to hear the needs of those around. Get lunch together. Go shopping together. Play a game together. Talk. Listen. Ask questions. You will find this opens more doors to help others bear the load and stand up a little straighter beneath them. ⁠ ⁠ You don't have to have the perfect words. Sometimes "I care", followed by silence or shared tears is enough. ⁠ ⁠ If you are going through a hard season of life yourself, this challenge is also for you. There is purpose and fulfillment found in ministering and sharing in the lives of others. It can lessen the weight of your own burdens. ⁠ ⁠ Be there for someone today.⁠ ⁠ —René Smith⁠ ⁠
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James 1:17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.⁠ ⁠ As we leave the formal Thanksgiving Season and proceed toward the rush of Christmas, pause long enough to consider the impact of Thanksgiving. What is your takeaway? Do you love God more for His gifts or for His personhood? Does the week of Thanksgiving give you a greater hunger to know Him and to spend time with Him or was it just your requisite moment of thanks that is set aside as you get back to living?⁠ ⁠ It is easy to regard the gifts God gives and spend our times cultivating and enjoying those gifts to the exclusion of the Giver. That is when your gifts become your idols. ⁠ ⁠ Let Thanksgiving be a beginning. This Christmas Season purpose in your heart to follow hard after the Giver. If Christ really is the most important thing in your life, spend time FIRST with Him. Speak of Him FIRST with others. Keep him FIRST in all things. —René Smith
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The holiday presents itself as a fitting resolution to the year’s highs and lows, joys and sorrows, successes and failures. It’s timed perfectly to allow for restful reflection before the generally happy chaos of Christmas. But what if Thanksgiving was meant to be a beginning, and not just another over-fed ending?⁠ ⁠ Thanksgiving isn’t ever the end in the Christian life because gratitude cannot bear the weight of that responsibility. Gratitude is good — and a means to something greater. It’s meant to fuel our faith in God and deepen our love for God, the Giver. Gratitude does look back, but it’s only a matter of time before it has the Christian looking forward. John Piper says,⁠ ⁠ The Bible rarely, if ever, motivates Christian living with gratitude. Yet this is almost universally presented in the church as the “driving force in authentic Christian living.” I agree that gratitude is a beautiful and utterly indispensible Christian affection. No one is saved who doesn’t have it. But you will search the Bible in vain for explicit connections between gratitude and obedience. (Future Grace, 3)⁠ ⁠ God means for our appreciation for all he has done to propel us to believe in all that he will do, and to live more fully for his glory as your greatest treasure. It’s the whole shape of the Christian heart and life. God does not bless you simply so that you’ll be filled with thanks and give him recognition, but so that you’ll be filled with faith and joy in him. -Marshall Segal
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The LORD hath done great things for us; whereof we are glad. Psalm 126:3⁠ Megan Hill⁠ Thanking God together is an effective guard against ingratitude. On our own, we may be tempted to forget, to take for granted, and to ignore the God from whom every good and perfect gift comes (James 1:17). On our own, we may fall into the ways of the ungodly, who do not “honor him as God or give thanks to him” (Rom. 1:21). Together, though, surrounded by the thanks of others, we join in and are thankful.⁠ What are your traditions of collective thanks? There are many ways to stop and actively praise God for His wonderful works during our gatherings and celebrations. Make Him the focus, the Giver of all Good Gifts!!
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Psalm 100:4–5⁠ Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise! Give thanks to him; bless his name! For the LORD is good; his steadfast love endures forever, and his faithfulness to all generations. —Joe Thorn⁠ ⁠ Does gratitude characterize your thoughts of God? Thankfulness is a good test of your faith. Its absence demonstrates that your faith is more lip service than experiential knowledge. Your days, whether easy or difficult, should be filled with thanksgiving because while life changes drastically, your God remains the same forever. He is constant—constantly good, loving, and faithful.⁠
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Acts 2:41–47⁠ So those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls. And they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. And all who believed were together and had all things in common. And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need. And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.⁠ Martyn Lloyd-Jones⁠ The early Christian church was a rejoicing, praising church that is filled with thanksgiving, magnifying the grace and glory of God. They were a thankful people. But why was this? . . . What is a Christian? Well, Christians are men and women who know that they are what they are by the grace of God. Their sins are forgiven. Why? . . . Christians know that they owe everything to the grace of God in our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. They have received it all as a free gift . . . Now if you can believe a thing like that and not feel grateful and thankful, then I do not understand you. It is impossible.⁠ ⁠
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"What hast thou that thou didst not receive? now if thou didst receive it, why dost thou glory, as if thou hadst not received it?" 1 Corinthians 4:7⁠ ⁠ “Gratitude is the proper response to an abundance of gifts. Gratitude is the posture of the soul that most readily increases receptivity. Gratitude demands humility, since only those who acknowledge their dependence, their need, and their delight in the goodness and kindness of another can be grateful. Give thanks always and for everything. And be specific.” Joe Rigney⁠ ⁠ God has given us all things to enjoy. Be specific this week in your expressions of thanks to the Lord. Cultivate the posture of gratitude and praise God for the gifts we enjoy.⁠
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“And the books were opened.” Rev. 20:12. God gives a book to everyone. You have yours and I have mine. It is the book of possibilities. In our text we are told that we are going to be judged out of the books according to our works. We are all writing a book. We are writing in our own book. I cannot write in yours, nor you in mine. You are responsible for what is in your book. We are tracing out our own record every moment on the book of our possibilities. What we think, what we say, and what we do are all being recorded. If you do nothing, then that is what is recorded. It is not just according to what we have done, but according to what we might have done. There will be no false entries in your book. The record is self-recording. Every deed records itself. Every idle moment records itself. If you do not want an idle moment or an idle word recorded against you, do not spend it, do not speak it. Our record is being written in our own hearts. What we think, say, and do become a part of us. All is being registered indelibly in our character. Every thought, word, and deed makes us better or worse. You are what you are because of what you have been thinking, saying, and doing. Each one is a child of his own doings.⁠ Helps to Holy Living by: Charles E. Orr⁠ ⁠ #devotional #dailydevotional #christiandevotional #morningdevotional #inspiration #bible #christian #motivationalquote #inspirationalquote #devo⁠ ⁠ Link to book in bio.
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“The express image of His person.” Heb. 1:3. We do not have the word “character” in the King James’ Version of the Bible, but had we got a direct rendering of the above text, it would have been “character” instead of “image.” Christ was in the express character of the Father. Man cannot serve two masters, but the fact is, he is serving one of two. There is none good but One; neither is there any that doeth good. All good that man does is done by the power of God. There is a spirit that works in the children of disobedience to the doing of wrong. Man is not free to do what he wills. He may will to do good and find he is not able to do it. He may sometimes will to do evil and find himself hindered. The only freedom man has is the power to choose which power shall work in him—the power of Christ, or the power of Satan. If man will yield his life to Christ, He will come in, dethroning the power of sin, and be the power in man to the doing of good. Character is not what we are by reason of what we do, but what we are by reason of what power is working in us. We do not build a Christian character by our own doing, but by accepting Christ and letting Him work in and through us to His own pleasure.⁠ Helps to Holy Living by: Charles E. Orr⁠ ⁠ #devotional #dailydevotional #christiandevotional #morningdevotional #inspiration #bible #christian #motivationalquote #inspirationalquote #devo⁠ ⁠ Link to book in bio.
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“Mine eyes have seen thy salvation.” Luke 2:30. Jesus is God’s salvation for man—Jesus and none other. Salvation is more than saving man from all that is unlike Christ; it is also imparting to him all that is like Christ. It is Christ’s and man’s nature inwrought one in the other, making them of like nature. It is the transforming of man into the likeness of God. It is man attaining his true manhood. Salvation is manhood regained. Look at Christ and you will see what you ought to be and can be. Jesus became the Savior of men by giving Himself for men. Men are saved by giving themselves to the Savior. A saved man is one to whom the Savior has been given and one who has given himself to the Savior. They are of like nature. They have perfect fellowship, blessed communion, and share everything in common. Each has what the other has. That which the man has belongs to Christ, and that which Christ has belongs to the man. Christ sups with the man and the man with Christ. Wherever you find the saved man you will also find Jesus there. They think, they speak, they act together. They are one life. Christ is the life of the man, and the man’s life is lived in by Christ. This is holy living—this is salvation.⁠ Helps to Holy Living by: Charles E. Orr⁠ ⁠ #devotional #dailydevotional #christiandevotional #morningdevotional #inspiration #bible #christian #motivationalquote #inspirationalquote #devo⁠ ⁠ Link to book in bio.
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