Today’s Verse: Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak. ~Matthew 26:41 Times of suffering and sorrow can be very difficult on anyone. It is during these settings that we can become very vulnerable to spiritual attack. They are also times in which we can become very disconnected with the reality of our situation and leave ourselves unprepared for further mishap. Jesus was in the Garden of Gethsemane. At this locati

Today’s Verse: And one of the multitude answered and said, Master, I have brought unto thee my son, which hath a dumb spirit; And wheresoever he taketh him, he teareth him: and he foameth, and gnasheth with his teeth, and pineth away: and I spake to thy disciples that they should cast him out; and they could not. ~Mark 9:17-18 Have you experienced a power outage? If you have, you must realize how much you take the use of electricity for granted. When there is a power outage,

Today’s Verse: The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the LORD: but the prayer of the upright is his delight…. The LORD is far from the wicked: but he heareth the prayer of the righteous. ~Proverbs 15:8, 29 Proverbs 15 has a strong emphasis on the words of our mouth. Our words are our means of communication. Relationships are made, sustained, or broken by our words. Our words can be soft, or they can be hard. Our words can be encouraging, or they can be discouraging

Today’s Verse: Whom hast thou reproached and blasphemed? and against whom hast thou exalted thy voice, and lifted up thine eyes on high? even against the Holy One of Israel. ~Isaiah 37:23 I read a story about an elderly woman who walked into the local country church. The friendly usher greeted her at the door and helped her up the flight of steps. "Where would you like to sit?" he asked politely. "The front row, please," she answered. "You really don't want to do that," the u

Today’s Verse: Let your speech be alway with grace, seasoned with salt, that ye may know how ye ought to answer every man. ~Colossians 4:6 Do you like food that is bland and tasteless? If you are like me, you probably like your food seasoned with salt. Salt gives food just the right taste! It takes something ordinary and gives it just that right balance to make it palatable and delicious. Paul uses the metaphor of salt to help us understand the importance of saying the right

Today’s Verse: In the multitude of my thoughts within me thy comforts delight my soul. ~Psalm 94:19 What’s on your mind? This is the typical question that we ask one another to find out what we are thinking about. Our thoughts have a lot to do with our spiritual, emotional, and physical health. What happens in our thought life determines our behavior and actions. The psalmist spoke of the multitude of his thoughts. Let us see, this morning, how we can be victorious in our tho

Today’s Verse: And in the morning, rising up a great while before day, he went out, and departed into a solitary place, and there prayed. ~Mark 1:35 Are you a morning person? Morning people thrive on being up early. They tend to be greatly energized after a good night’s sleep and ready to make great accomplishments during the first few hours of the day. Morning people will attest that they are more productive and successful. Morning people also enjoy the quiet solitude of tha

Today’s Verse: Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. ~2 Corinthians 3:17 Today, the USA celebrates its independence from the tyranny of political and religious oppression of England. On July 4, 1776, the Declaration of Independence was signed by our founding fathers. In the city of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, there is a bell that is aptly called "the Liberty Bell” that symbolizes the freedom and liberty that we attained. There is

Today’s Verse: And it came to pass, when she pressed him daily with her words, and urged him, so that his soul was vexed unto death; ~Judges 16:16 Are you someone under pressure? Are you experiencing great stress in your job, your health, your family, or another important area of your life? There is the pressure of a trial, when the outcome of something is not in your control. There is the pressure from your peers to conform to them. There is the pressure from the world to ca

Today’s Verse: And Rachel said, With great wrestlings have I wrestled with my sister, and I have prevailed: and she called his name Naphtali. ~Genesis 30:8 Wrestling is one of the oldest contact sports. Two opponents grapple each other to determine which has the finesse, strength, and technique to make the other lose by points or submission. Wrestling requires a lot of endurance and adaptability. No wrestling match is ever light. They are always intense. We see some valuable

Today’s Verse: Also I shook my lap, and said, So God shake out every man from his house, and from his labour, that performeth not this promise, even thus be he shaken out, and emptied. And all the congregation said, Amen, and praised the LORD. And the people did according to this promise. ~Nehemiah 5:13 When I was a small kid, I remember times when my uncles and older cousins would take me, hold me by my ankles, turn me upside down, and give me a strong shaking as part of pla

Today’s Verse: Reproach hath broken my heart; and I am full of heaviness: and I looked for some to take pity, but there was none; and for comforters, but I found none. ~Psalm 69:20 The superscription to Psalm 69 says, “Upon Shoshannim.” This means “upon the lilies.” The context of this psalm presents to us a lily among thorns. It is a Messianic psalm as it was quoted by or refers to our Lord Jesus Christ several times (vv. 4, 8, 9, 21). It is a psalm of David as he goes throu

Today’s Verse: There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God. ~Hebrews 4:9 What comes to your mind when you think of the word rest? I think for some of us, rest brings to mind sleep, peace, cessation of busyness, recovery, replenishment, and removal. However, our mediation this morning is on the Christian rest. Let us see what it means to find our rest. We see the principle. The principle of rest takes us back to when Joshua led the children of Israel to possess the l

Today’s Verse: Save me from the lion's mouth: for thou hast heard me from the horns of the unicorns. ~Psalm 22:21 Psalm 22 is a Messianic psalm. This psalm prophesies of the suffering of our Lord Jesus Christ on the cross. Some have referred to this as "the Good Shepherd Psalm." Jesus said, “The good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep.” This psalm also teaches us how God delivers us when we are in serious trouble and feel like we have nowhere to turn. Let us see lessons f

Today’s Verse: My God hath sent his angel, and hath shut the lions' mouths, that they have not hurt me: forasmuch as before him innocency was found in me; and also before thee, O king, have I done no hurt. ~Daniel 6:22 The Bible uses several colorful descriptions of Satan. One of these descriptions is that of a roaring lion. Lions have been dubbed the king of the beasts. They are strong and ferocious, and they announce their presence with a terrifying roar. Lions were kept in

Today’s Verse: Thus saith the LORD, Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls. But they said, We will not walk therein. ~Jeremiah 6:16 A beaten path is a pathway that is tried, proven, and frequently travelled. A destination off the beaten path is a place not known by or popular with people. In our devotion this morning, we are reflecting on the old paths: the spiritual paths that a

Today’s Verse: I pray for them: I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me; for they are thine. ~John 17:9 John 17 is correctly called “the Lord’s Prayer.” This prayer was most likely prayed in the upper room after Jesus had finished speaking with the disciples. Though not recorded, it is very likely that our Lord may have stopped at different intervals to pray with and for the disciples. Our Lord embodied and modeled what true intercessory prayer should

Today’s Verse: In the year that king Uzziah died I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple. ~Isaiah 6:1 Years ago, I sat with an attorney friend of mine in a courtroom for a proceeding that we were witnessing. As we were waiting for the judge to enter, my friend said, “Look at the chair where the judge will sit. Think about the incredible amount of authority that is vested in the man who sits on that chair.” Isaiah saw a vi

Today’s Verse: O LORD, how long shall I cry, and thou wilt not hear! even cry out unto thee of violence, and thou wilt not save! ~Habakkuk 1:2 I believe that every person has a breaking point. This is when a situation becomes so unbearable that you let off the steam that has been building up inside of you. You might let it out through shouting, punching a bag, or taking a long walk. Habakkuk records for us a prayer that he prayed. In this prayer, he speaks of crying out to Go

Today’s Verse: For ye dissembled in your hearts, when ye sent me unto the LORD your God, saying, Pray for us unto the LORD our God; and according unto all that the LORD our God shall say, so declare unto us, and we will do it. ~Jeremiah 42:20 Insincerity is when someone says one thing, but his intention is something else. It means the intent of the person was not really genuine or true. Jeremiah called insincerity being “dissembled in your hearts.” In today’s devotion, we see