January 2025

Become As A Child

January 14, 2025

KEY FROM GOD’S WORD:

Matthew 18:3
And said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.

 

THOUGHTS ON GOD’S WORD:

    Oh, to be a child again. To play, laugh, run, jump, and seemingly not have even one care in this world. Our biggest fear as a child was that our toys might break, or that our friends could not play today. Oh, to be a child again.

 

   Some read today’s verse and wonder, “Do I have to become like a child to be saved?” or “Must I first need the faith of a child to be saved?” You might be saying to yourself “I just cannot do it.”

 

   Well, you are right. You cannot; furthermore, the verse does not say you need to. It says, “Except ye be converted, and become as little children.” People often read this verse, and then in their minds, they flip things around and get things backwards. Jesus was saying we need to be converted first. To convert means to change someone’s actions and beliefs, or to join the other side. God is simply saying turn to Him and away from your sin. It is the awareness of, and a belief in Christ that brings about a change of heart required for salvation. Then when you trust in Christ as your Saviour, He will restore in you that childlike faith to trust Him even more.

  

CARRYING THAT THOUGHT THROUGH THE DAY:

    Today, with this reminder of having that childlike faith restored in us, we should run and jump in God’s open and loving arms, trusting the rest of our day, our week, and yes, even our life to Him.

 

Will you trust your day, your life
to the one who created that life?

 

IF YOU ARE JOURNALING:

Ask yourself, what are MY THOUGHTS concerning this Passage, and today’s Devotion?

 

Do I find within this reading a CHALLENGE for my life?

 

What are one or two things I WILL DO today or this week to accept that CHALLENGE?

 

  

GOD TALKING TO ME:  JANUARY 14, 2025

THROUGH THE BIBLE ACCELERATED READING
^{(O.T.-1,   N.T. & PS.-2,   Prov. – Monthly)}
Genesis 27 – Psalm 14
Proverbs 14 – Matthew 18

THROUGH THE BIBLE OLD & NEW TESTAMENT DAILY
Genesis 29-30 – Matthew 10

Honest Pay For An Honest Day!

January 13, 2025

KEY FROM GOD’S WORD:

Proverbs 13:11
Wealth gotten by vanity shall be diminished: but he that gathereth by labour shall increase.

THOUGHTS ON GOD’S WORD:

    In an article I read some time ago they wrote about a man who had won a large amount of money from the lottery. His quoted comments in this article if they were accurate, said he thanked God for helping him pick the right numbers and was giving a lot of the money to his church.

 

    Several people commented, “Oh how I wish it was our church.” Now I know they meant that innocently and lovingly. Yet we must consider how this money was obtained. Did he not get all this money by gambling? Did not thousands upon thousands of people who needed their money have to lose for him to become rich? People, who in many cases bet their rent money or let their children go hungry because of their gambling addiction. Do you think for one minute God had anything to do with that? I am speaking of the one true real God who said in Proverbs 13:11 “Wealth gotten by vanity shall be diminished.” Vanity means emptiness, or “like a breath,” nothing there. The man who won the lottery got his money from doing nothing to earn it. It would be interesting to see what he did with that money over the upcoming years. Studies have shown that most lottery winners find themselves right back where they began in a few years, as they have squandered or lost all they won.   
  

CARRYING THAT THOUGHT THROUGH THE DAY:

    As we look at the wealth of the world, the idea of gambling becomes enticing, to say the least. Especially knowing we could use the money for so many great things for the Lord. However, it would be better to wait upon the Lord, His timing, and His plan, than to cave into the vices of sin and man. We instead should be more like the second part of today’s verse which says, “but he that gathereth by labour shall increase.” Let’s just get ours honestly, shall we?

 

What are you using the funds God blessed you with for?”

 

IF YOU ARE JOURNALING:

Ask yourself, what are MY THOUGHTS concerning this Passage, and today’s Devotion?

 

Do I find within this reading a CHALLENGE for my life?

 

What are one or two things I WILL DO today or this week to accept that CHALLENGE?

  

GOD TALKING TO ME:  JANUARY 13, 2025

THROUGH THE BIBLE ACCELERATED READING
^{(O.T.-1,   N.T. & PS.-2,   Prov. – Monthly)}
Genesis 24-26 – Psalm 13 – Proverbs 12-13 – Matthew 15-17

THROUGH THE BIBLE OLD & NEW TESTAMENT DAILY
Genesis 27-28 – Matthew 9:18-38

Waiting…Waiting…

 

January 11 & 12, 2025

KEY FROM GOD’S WORD:

Genesis 21:1
And the LORD visited Sarah as he had said, and the LORD did unto Sarah as he had spoken.

 

THOUGHTS ON GOD’S WORD:

    Ordering items by mail order or over the internet can be great fun and a real time saver. However, there are those times when you place an order, you wait, wait, and then wait some more for the delivery, which seems to take an eternity to arrive. The ad said to allow 1 to 2 weeks for delivery. Nevertheless, you were at the mailbox every day; just certain they were going to send it early. Then when it got there, you were so excited about it finally arriving and you check to find out, it arrived right on time, just like they said. However, it sure did seem like a really long time to wait.

 

    God’s deliverance on His promises toward believers may sometimes seem very much like the long waited for package in our lives. In the verse today, we see God was there when He said He would be and delivered what He said He would deliver.

 

     Through the process of anticipation, God teaches us to be patient and to wait on Him. He will give us exactly what we need and exactly when we need it. However, God is never a minute too early, and He is never late. God is always right on time   
  

CARRYING THAT THOUGHT THROUGH THE DAY:

    What are you asking God for today? Are you praying according to His will? Are you praying with faith believing? We need always to believe that even though it may seem like an eternity, God is never late, and He never lies. He will be there, just as He promises He will.

 

What are you asking God for today?

 

IF YOU ARE JOURNALING:

Ask yourself, what are MY THOUGHTS concerning this Passage, and today’s Devotion?

 

 

Do I find within this reading a CHALLENGE for my life?

 

 

What are one or two things I WILL DO today or this week to accept that CHALLENGE?

 

  

GOD TALKING TO ME:  JANUARY 11, 2025

THROUGH THE BIBLE ACCELERATED READING
^{(O.T.-1,   N.T. & PS.-2,   Prov. – Monthly)}
Genesis 21-23 – Psalm 11-12
Proverbs 11 – Matthew 14

 

THROUGH THE BIBLE OLD & NEW TESTAMENT DAILY
Genesis 25-26  – Matthew 9:1-17

 

WHAT TO DO ON SUNDAY:

    There will not be a Daily Devotion sent out on Sundays. Instead, we encourage you to attend your church and listen intently to what God has prepared in the heart of your Pastor. Write down all the scriptures he uses in that message, then when you get home re-read those passages for today’s reading. God has given to your Pastor exactly what He desires for you on that day.  

 

GOD TALKING TO ME:  JANUARY 12, 2025

THROUGH THE BIBLE ACCELERATED READING
^{(O.T.-1,   N.T. & PS.-2,   Prov. – Monthly)}
NO READINGS ON SUNDAY

THROUGH THE BIBLE OLD & NEW TESTAMENT DAILY
NO READINGS ON SUNDAY

Life In 3D

January 10, 2025

KEY FROM GOD’S WORD:

Proverbs 10:29
The way of the LORD is strength to the upright: but destruction shall be to the workers of iniquity.

 

THOUGHTS ON GOD’S WORD:

    I love to stare at those weird-looking 3D pictures called stereograms. You know; the ones you must stick your nose up to, cross your eyes, and then as you slowly move it away from your face, sometimes you can see the form of something in the picture. Some people claim to be able to see the image immediately, while others, looking at the same picture for hours, never see anything.

 

    Well, different people seem to see the way of the Lord much like those 3D Stereogram Pictures. God gave us a book called the Bible, which contains the way of life. In it, we find the way of life for the saved, as well as the way of life for those who reject Christ and His way of living. People, who trust in God and come to know the Lord, see the Word of God as a source of strength and comfort. For those who refuse to believe in Him and therefore have never known Him, they find this same book to be a tale of destruction. To the unsaved soul, it becomes a reason for fear. Yet the way of the Lord has not changed, just the viewer. He is the same Lord. Some see Jesus as the way; others see Jesus as in the way. 

  

CARRYING THAT THOUGHT THROUGH THE DAY:

    How do you see the way of the Lord? Does His ways cause you to think of Him as a God who wants you to have no fun, no enjoyment in life, no happiness? Do you think He wants you to be a miserable Christian? Then you are really missing the WAY OF THE LORD. His way protects us from the harmful things Satan would bring into our lives to remove our real lasting joy. If you really want to Live Life, Live it in Jesus. He brings real comfort in the midst of life’s storms. His way is not an illusion, it’s real.

 

What do you see as “THE WAY OF THE LORD?”

IF YOU ARE JOURNALING:

Ask yourself, what are MY THOUGHTS concerning this Passage, and today’s Devotion?

 

Do I find within this reading a CHALLENGE for my life?

 

What are one or two things I WILL DO today or this week to accept that CHALLENGE?

  

GOD TALKING TO ME:  JANUARY 10, 2025

THROUGH THE BIBLE ACCELERATED READING
^{(O.T.-1,   N.T. & PS.-2,   Prov. – Monthly)}
Genesis 19-20 – Psalm 10
Proverbs 10 – Matthew 13

THROUGH THE BIBLE OLD & NEW TESTAMENT DAILY
Genesis 24  –  Matthew 8

Am I Surrendered?

January 9, 2025

KEY FROM GOD’S WORD:

Genesis 17:23
And Abraham took Ishmael his son, and all that were born in his house, and all that were bought with his money, every male among the men of Abraham’s house; and circumcised the flesh of their foreskin in the selfsame day, as God had said unto him.

THOUGHT ON GOD’S WORD:

    Here is your agenda for today. Read your Bible, pray, sing a little song (even if it is only to yourself), ask someone to come to church, and cut the fatty lobe off your left ear.

    WHAT? Can you even imagine a pastor telling anyone they need to do something like that to serve God? You might say, “Everything in the list seems like legitimate ideas except cutting off part of my body.” You probably think, “Well I don’t think so buddy, I will find another church somewhere else.” 

    However, cutting off a part of his body was exactly what God asked Abraham to do. Even more amazingly, Abraham did it. He did not wait a week or two until he had time to think it through or to read all the studies on the medical ramifications of doing something like that. He did not delay in his obedience to the desires of God until he investigated the subject to find a great way of numbing the pain. The Bible says that when Abraham understood God’s desire, he did it the same day. What he did was to totally and immediately surrender to the will of God. God will never ask you to do things illegal or immoral. He does however ask you to surrender your will to His will.   

  

CARRYING THAT THOUGHT THROUGH THE DAY:

    At the beginning of this devotion, we mentioned prayer, reading, singing, and sharing. God’s Word tells us we are to do all those things. Are you going to wait until you figure it all out? Will you put it off for another time when you get up the nerve? Or are you going to obey God today as Abraham did? (P.S. Leave the fatty lobe of your left ear exactly where it is. It was just an illustration…)

How will you obey God today?

 

IF YOU ARE JOURNALING:

Ask yourself, what are MY THOUGHTS concerning this Passage, and today’s Devotion?

 

Do I find within this reading a CHALLENGE for my life?

 

What are one or two things I WILL DO today or this week to accept that CHALLENGE?

  

GOD TALKING TO ME:  JANUARY 9, 2025

THROUGH THE BIBLE ACCELERATED READING
^{(O.T.-1,   N.T. & PS.-2,   Prov. – Monthly)}
Genesis 17-18 – Psalm 9 – Proverbs 9 – Matthew 12

 

THROUGH THE BIBLE OLD & NEW TESTAMENT DAILY
Genesis 21-23 – Matthew 7