​3-14-23

Today's devotion is based on Romans 5:1, "We have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ."

As wonderful as earthly peace is, it is not the kind of peace we need most, for without God's peace, we will not have it in the world we live in today. Sin brought strife between God and people. This strife is most evident in troubled consciences. It's also reflected in the conflicts that exist between people everywhere. there is nothing that we could give up or contribute to establishing a peace treaty with God. Our sins alienated us so far from God that such a treaty could never be ratified.

God, however, did what we could not do. Through the redemption that came by his own Son, God brought to the peace treaty table everything he needed to sign the treaty with us. Jesus' blood blotted out our guilt. He arose from the grave to announce God's peace. Through Jesus, true peace is ours forever! Give thanks to the Lord!
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Please pray with me: Blessed Jesus, you bought me back from the eternal destruction I deserved for my sin by shedding your precious blood. I praise and thank you, my Savior, for establishing peace between God and me and giving me the gift of everlasting life! Amen.

​3-13-23

Today's devotion is based on Exodus 17:1-3, 'All the congregation of the people of Israel moved on from the wilderness of Sin by stages, according to the commandment of the LORD, and camped at Rephidim, but there was no water for the people to drink. Therefore the people quarreled with Moses and said, "Give us water to drink." And Moses said to them, "Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you test the LORD?" But the people thirsted there for water, and the people grumbled against Moses and said, "Why did you bring us up out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and our livestock with thirst?"'
 
God provided literal water for thirsty travelers in a miraculous way. Miraculously, God quenches our spiritual thirst through his Word. God may not scratch our every curiosity in life, but he does quench our thirsty souls. Our thirst for answers to life's big questions, like "What will happen after this life?" He answers this with an empty cross and tomb—Jesus died for you and rose for you; heaven is yours! God's forgiveness and assurance that we are his children quenches our thirst for acceptance. This thirst-quenching, life-giving water doesn't flow from some rock. It flows from God himself, from Jesus Christ, who is the true God.
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Please pray with me: Lord, when all my physical needs are met by your blessing, even then, lead me beside the life-giving waters of your Word and quench my thirsty soul with your love and forgiveness through Jesus Christ. Amen.

​3-12-23

 Today's devotion is based on John 4:14,14a: "Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst.'"

The verse above is Jesus' response to the Samaritan woman at the well. The woman is surprised that Jesus is speaking to her, as she is a Samaritan. Yet Jesus is not concerned that her nationality differs from his. He'll talk to anyone. Perhaps Jesus is not thirsty after all; he seems more interested in making conversation with the woman. He wants to tell her about a source of water that never runs dry.

But what is this eternal or living water of which Christ speaks? What is this spring that will bubble up to eternal life? Rev J Darsow once wrote, 'The water of life is the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. This restores and satisfies the soul and quenches its thirst. It is offered freely in the gospel of Christ, which tells of the streams of love that flow from the Father's heart, and assures us that in Christ, who has reconciled us, sinners, to God, there is forgiveness, life, and peace.'
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Please pray with me:  Oh Jesus, how I thirst! Lead me to your waters and give me that the world cannot give. In your blessed name, I pray. Amen.

​3-11-23

 Today’s devotion is based on Romans 4:13-16, “It was not through the law that Abraham and his offspring received the promise that he would be heir of the world, but through the righteousness that comes by faith. If those who live by law are heirs, faith has no value, and the promise is worthless because the law brings wrath. And where there is no law, there is no transgression. Therefore, the promise comes by faith so that it may be by  (God’s) grace and be guaranteed to all Abraham’s offspring—not only to those who are of the law but also to those (That is us) who are of the faith of Abraham. He is the father of us all.”
The way of the law as a means of righteousness and eternal life does not and cannot work. That leaves us with only one way. And what a beautiful way it is! All you have to do is believe the promise, for righteousness comes by faith. These are beautiful words: by grace, guaranteed to all! The righteousness that comes from faith in Jesus is the only way for all. That is not a limiting truth; it’s a liberating truth. You are free from doubt, worry, and uncertainty concerning your eternal future. You are free to rejoice, worship, serve, and live. Free, through Jesus.
Please pray with me: Lord Jesus, you are the only Way, the only Truth, and the only Life. Help me cut off every thought and philosophy that suggests another way from me to you, from earth to heaven. May I rejoice in you always! Amen.

​3-10-23

Today’s devotion is based on John 3:10-17, “You are Israel’s teacher,” said Jesus, “and do you not understand these things? Very truly I tell you, we speak of what we know, and we testify to what we have seen, but still you people do not accept our testimony. I have spoken to you of earthly things and you do not believe; how then will you believe if I speak of heavenly things? No one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven—the Son of Man. Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him. For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.”
Nicodemus was a religious leader in Israel and a teacher of the people. He should have understood what was going on when Jesus came, but he did not understand because he did not realize that Jesus came from heaven. When we realize that Jesus is the Son of God from all eternity who came from heaven to earth and became a human being, we begin to understand. God arranged everything because he loved us. Jesus did not come to condemn us because of our lack of understanding. Instead, he came from heaven to save us.
Please pray with me: Lord, give me the understanding of your great love and keep me safe all the way to eternal life. Amen.

​3-9-23
Today’s devotion is based on John 14:6, “Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”

Jesus not only teaches the truth, but he is the truth, as he is both God and man when he took on human form more than 2000 years ago. Jesus Christ is ‘the life’ who breathes his own resurrected life into our fallenness through faith. It is by faith in him that the Spirit of God lives within us now and throughout eternity. Jesus said, ‘No one comes to the Father except through me.’ There is no other way to God; no other truth about God; and no other life apart from God than that which is revealed in Jesus.
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Please pray with me: Lord, help me to seek truth today Teach me that, in truth, there is wisdom and understanding, and eternal life with you. In your blessed name, I pray. Amen

​3-8-23

Today’s devotion is based on Ephesians 5:1,2: “Therefore, be imitators of God, as beloved children. And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.”

Loving someone and giving of oneself to that someone is a mark of genuine love. We cannot claim to love someone and remain passive. To love someone necessitates giving part of ourselves to the beloved; otherwise, our giving is just a set of actions, fulfillment of a duty, or completion of an event.

Our Lord Jesus’ love for us involves him giving himself totally to us, even to the point of death. His self-giving love should produce a life of forgiveness, joy, and hope in us. Let us love by giving of our ‘self’ just as Jesus did. And just as Jesus did, make a difference in our relationships.
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Please pray with me: Heavenly Father, thank you for loving us so much that you sacrificed your beloved Son so that we can be declared innocent on Judgment Day. In Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen. 

​3-7-23
Today’s devotion is based on Romans 4:1-5, “What then shall we say that Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh, discovered in this matter? If, in fact, Abraham was justified by works, he had something to boast about—but not before God. What does Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.” Now to the one who works, wages are not credited as a gift but as an obligation. However, to the one who does not work but trusts God who justifies the ungodly, their faith is credited as righteousness.”

In the Bible reference for today, we hear that Abraham did good things. Those things did not get him to heaven. He went to heaven not because of those good things but because of his faith in God’s promise. It works the same way for you. God doesn’t try to determine whether you have done enough good things to be called godly or ungodly. He knows that his Son, Jesus, has done enough, and when you believe in Jesus, that faith is credited to you as righteousness.
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Please pray with me: Lord Jesus, thank you for giving me your righteousness. Amen.

​3-6-23

Today’s devotion is based on 1 Timothy 2:5, “For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and humankind, the man Christ Jesus.”

Paul wrote this instructional letter for Timothy to give to the church at Ephesus. Paul was keen to preserve the true proclamation of the church there in the face of the belief that denied Christ as the sole Mediator between God and humans. It proposed that through mystical searching, personal revelation of God could occur that added to or opposed the faithful teaching of the church. This sort of teaching was evident then and is also popular today.

We experience God through the Son, assurance of the forgiveness of sins through his perfect death, and salvation because of Christ’s advocacy. We are justified because Jesus Christ speaks for us and died and rose again for us. Even though we have sinned against God by neglecting this word or believing ideas that deny its truths, we are forgiven because of what he has done for us.
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Please pray with me: Jesus, thank you for being our Mediator. Please help me to focus on Jesus alone, so mystical teachings do not tempt me. In your blessed name, I pray. Amen.