19 Saturday Sep 2015
Posted in Daily Reading
God is the true testimony about His Son Jesus Christ and the purpose of His coming to earth to die for our sins. The second part of 1 John 5:10 says Anyone who does not believe God has made him out to be a liar, because he has not believed the testimony God has given about his Son. We either believe God or we don’t. Jesus is the Son of God and He died for all of us because He loves us. It’s a simple truth.
18 Friday Sep 2015
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God does not love us because we love Him; We love Him because He first loved us. 1 John 4:10 says, This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. There is no greater evidence of God’s love for us than the sacrifice of His own Son for our eternal salvation.
17 Thursday Sep 2015
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There is an old adage that says, “talk is cheap.” 1 John 3:18 says it more eloquently, Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth. We can say we care and love one another, but the truth is evidenced by our actions. If we say we love serving and never serve, then where is the truth? Let us do more and talk less about doing.
16 Wednesday Sep 2015
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We all have strong connections to our possessions, but in the end, it will all pass away. 1 John 2:17 says, The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever. When we put away our selfish and self-indulgent desires and make room for the will of God in our lives, we experience true peace and find purpose in our existence in this life.
15 Tuesday Sep 2015
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We are all sinners and just like people who struggle with addiction, the first step in recovery is to admit we have a problem. 1 John 1:8 says, If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. There is no greater deception than the deception we believe about ourselves. When we believe we are justified in sin, we not only lie to God, but we lie to ourselves. Once we realize how much we need God’s grace and mercy, we can then see how broken we are without the love of God, and this is when we begin to heal.
14 Monday Sep 2015
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Today we read the single chapter in the short book of Jude, which was written as a letter by the brother of Jesus and James. Jude writes this book as encouragement to other believer and to remind them to be vigilant in the faith and oppose heresy. The final doxology of the letter sums up everything Jude is trying to say: Jude 1:24-25 24 To him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy – 25 to the only God our Savior be the glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen.
12 Saturday Sep 2015
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God does not expect perfection from us, but he also does expect us to make every effort at holiness. As believers He does not expect us to attain holiness on our own, which is why we have the Holy Spirit living in us. 2 Peter 3:14 says, So then, dear friends, since you are looking forward to this, make every effort to be found spotless, blameless and at peace with him. Making every effort means we do not become lazy and complacent, but eager to please Him.
11 Friday Sep 2015
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It is better to not know the truth and do wrong, than to know the truth and do wrong anyway. In today’s reading Peter makes it clear what it is like for a person who comes to know Christ and then falls away. 2 Peter 2:22, Of them the proverbs are true: “A dog returns to its vomit,” and, “A sow that is washed goes back to her wallowing in the mud.” Like a person drowning in the ocean who refuses to grab a life preserver; the person who turns away from Christ casts aside their only escape from death.
10 Thursday Sep 2015
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As we talked about a couple of days ago in 2 Timothy 3:16-17, all scripture comes from God. It may be written by men, but the words are inspired by God Himself. In 2 Peter 1:21 Peter says, 21 For prophesy never had its origin in the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit. Men who were carried by the will of God through the Holy Spirit living in them drove the actions of the men in scripture. And it is these inspired men who helped produce the words of God shared in scripture.
09 Wednesday Sep 2015
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I want my life to mean something in the end. I want God to look at me and say I have made Him proud. Paul realized he was reaching the end of his life and in 2 Timothy 4:7-8 says to Timothy, 7 I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. 8 Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day – and not only me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing. Paul fought the good fight and prepared the way so that others could do the same. I hope and pray we all follow the same path as Paul. It is difficult, but through God’s grace and the Holy Spirit’s leading, we can do it.
Daily Devotion 