Daily Devotions

Living In The Dark
October 8, 2025

KEY FROM GOD’S WORD:

Proverbs 8:5-6
O ye simple, understand wisdom: and, ye fools, be ye of an understanding heart. Hear; for I will speak of excellent things; and the opening of my lips shall be right things.

THOUGHTS ON GOD’S WORD:

 

   Ok, let’s try something together. Get a good book. Pull the shades in the room you are in to block out any outside distractions. Get a warm cup of coffee, tea, or something to drink. Grab a blanket. Do whatever it takes to help you get comfortable. Turn off the phone, TV, or anything that may cause an interruption. Find a nice, comfortable chair to sit in. Open your book to where you are reading, or any page will do for this experiment. Ok, now the shades are drawn, you are comfortable, it is quiet, now turn off the lights, and read.

 

     You are probably thinking, Why turn off the lights? It is to illustrate how many saved and unsaved people try to live life. We do everything we can to make our lives comfortable. We work to get the right job, buy the right house, save money, and so on. All the things we can do to make us comfortable, yet we live in the dark, almost blindfolded. To gain wisdom from a book, we need light. To gain wisdom for our lives, we need Jesus, the light of the world. Real wisdom comes from someone who can see beyond where we are and who knows us inside and out. Better than we know ourselves. It takes someone who truly has our best interests at heart. It takes God.

 

     Sadly, instead of seeking God, who can see the beginning and the end of life, we trust in the wisdom of a man who can only see yesterday and today and then wonder why life turns out as it does. It is like trying to read a book in the dark. You are there, the book is also there, and everything is all right. Still, you have no light.

 

CARRYING THAT THOUGHT THROUGH THE DAY:

   

     In John 8:12, Jesus said, “I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.” Seek Light.

 

Where do you find wisdom for your 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: October  8, 2025

THROUGH THE BIBLE ACCELERATED READING
^{(O.T.-1,   N.T. & PS.-2,   Prov. – Monthly)}
Jeremiah 43, 44 / Psalm 86
Proverbs 8 / Galatians 5, 6

 

THROUGH THE BIBLE OLD & NEW TESTAMENT DAILY
Isa. 11-14  /  Eph. 5

 

Like It Or Not, We Need Trials

October 1, 2025

KEY FROM GOD’S WORD:

James 1:3
Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience.

THOUGHTS ON GOD’S WORD:

     One Sunday morning in our church service, I spoke on patience. I was saying we should all be more patient with one another and the burdens they bear. I spoke of how trials will help us work on our patience if we listen to God during the trial. I also mentioned how we should pray for one another. That is all Biblical, right?

     With the morning service over, I headed home to get some lunch and prepare for our afternoon baptismal service. At the time, we did not have a baptistery in our church, so we would go to another church during the cold months for baptismal services. When I got home, I found my finished basement had about 1 inch of standing water in most of it. Our sump pump had quit working. I quickly called a friend who knew about plumbing, and he and I got the water pretty much cleaned up and the pump temporarily working again. When I joined the church service that afternoon, I half-jokingly asked them, “Which one of you yahoos decided to pray for the Pastor to have more patience? Well, whoever you are, cut it out.” Everyone laughed.

     Since then, when I have heard people praying, “God, please give me patience,” I often wondered what might be coming their way to help them gain patience. I have long stopped praying for patience. My life has enough trials in it to help me learn patience daily. I now pray for peace.

CARRYING THAT THOUGHT THROUGH THE DAY:

    Today, as the burdens of life begin to bear upon you, think back on things you do now with ease that once were trials in your life. Walking was a trial when you were one year old, and driving when you were sixteen. Things that once seemed almost impossible, trials of the past, you now do with ease. The trials you face today may also be the very things that make you a much better Christian tomorrow.

What might you be dealing with today
that God can use to make you stronger in the days to come?

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: October 1, 2025

THROUGH THE BIBLE ACCELERATED READING
^{(O.T.-1,   N.T. & PS.-2,   Prov. – Monthly)}
Jeremiah 30, 31 / Psalm 79
Proverbs 1 / James 1, 2

THROUGH THE BIBLE OLD & NEW TESTAMENT DAILY
Song of So. 1-3  /  Gal. 5

Who Controls The Reins?

September 24, 2025

KEY FROM GOD’S WORD:

Jeremiah 17:10
I the LORD search the heart, I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings.

THOUGHTS ON GOD’S WORD:

     When God created man, He originally did so looking at us as a perfect creature. We were His perfect creation. To make us perfect, He gave us all characteristics such as He has. A mind to think with, the will to choose, and a heart full of emotions. In doing so, He also has given humanity the opportunity to mess up. And so it goes, we did and still do. Man’s heart, thoughts, and will have become corrupted by the sin which Satan introduced into this world.

     The verse just before Jeremiah 17:10 says our hearts are “desperately wicked: who can know it?” The answer is God. God knows our hearts even better than we do. He knows what we desire. Our verse today says, “I try the reins.” What do reins do when put on a horse? They are used to direct this large animal to stop and go or to turn left or right. What then would be the reins of a person? Well, they would be the mind or the heart of a person. Your mind tells you to stop doing something, or start doing something, or to go here or there. Remember, God knows the mind of a person.

     So, ask yourself, what is it that your mind and heart really want? You can see the answer to that question just as God does, by your ways or doings. Where do you go? What do you do? With whom do you hang out? How often does this include God? If you do not like the answers to these questions, maybe you had better get a firmer grip on the reins! Better yet, let God have control of them.

CARRYING THAT THOUGHT THROUGH THE DAY:

     

     As the day goes by, ask God to keep your mind on things that would be glorifying to Him. If you find your mind wandering, wander back over toward God.

When do you most often find your mind wandering?

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: September  24, 2025

THROUGH THE BIBLE ACCELERATED READING
^{(O.T.-1,   N.T. & PS.-2,   Prov. – Monthly)}
Jeremiah 16, 17 / Psalm 75
Proverbs 24 / Acts 5

THROUGH THE BIBLE OLD & NEW TESTAMENT DAILY
Ecc. 1-2  /  2 Co. 12

Be A WONDER

September 17, 2025

KEY FROM GOD’S WORD:

Psalm 71:7
I am as a wonder unto many; but thou art my strong refuge.

THOUGHTS ON GOD’S WORD:

    Are you considered “a WONDER unto many?” You should be! People should wonder what in the world happened to you. All your friends and co-workers should wonder what happened to the language you used and the jokes you used to listen to and tell. They should wonder why you are not going out to bars or parties with them anymore after work. Your neighbors should wonder why it is that every Sunday morning and every Sunday night they see you and your family dressed up and leaving for church instead of having a Bar-B-Q or going to the beach. Your family should wonder why the things that would previously find their way onto your TV set just do not seem to be there anymore.

     If you are living a life for Christ, these wonders have taken place, and maybe you do not notice them. I guess the person who should be most amazed is you. Do you wonder why an almighty God would send His only Son to die for you? Do you wonder why, out of the millions of people around you, it was your eyes that were opened to the wonders of God’s grace, and now you are a child of God? Have you ever wondered how it is God, who knows everything, says He will remember your sins NO MORE? Oh, the WONDER of it all.

CARRYING THAT THOUGHT THROUGH THE DAY:

     God chose to send His Son to save your sins. God chose to reveal the truths of the gospel for salvation so you could live with Him eternally. God chooses to forgive and to forget your sins, which are washed in the blood. That is what your God has chosen to do for you. What have you chosen to do for God? Be a WONDER in this world!

What have you chosen to do for God?

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: September  17, 2025

THROUGH THE BIBLE ACCELERATED READING
^{(O.T.-1,   N.T. & PS.-2,   Prov. – Monthly)}
Jeremiah 3 / Psalm 71:1-16
Proverbs 17 / John 18

THROUGH THE BIBLE OLD & NEW TESTAMENT DAILY
Pro. 20-21  /  2 Co. 5

No One Is Stronger Than God

September 10, 2025

KEY FROM GOD’S WORD:

John 9:3
Jesus answered, Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents: but that the works of God should be made manifest in him.

 

THOUGHTS ON GOD’S WORD:

 

     If you spend any time watching so-called Christian TV today, you are sure to hear some Faith-healing Evangelists suggest that if you are sick, it is because there is some sort of demon in you that needs to be cast out. Then again, if it is not a demon, you have some terrible mortal sin you need to confess. Some go on to tell you where their next meeting is going to be, so you can come and be healed. (Hope you do not die in the meantime, because they also believe that if you sin, you lose your salvation.)

 

     However, this verse in the Bible tells us clearly that sometimes trials and personal afflictions are not a result of our sin, or the result of the sins of others. The illness is also not a demon possessing us or even tormenting us. Occasionally, we are made to go through these things because God knows our character and that we will give honor and glory to Him even during these struggles. He knows many others may come to see Jesus by seeing Him in the life that you live in the midst of your trouble. They may have never seen Him in any other way.

 

     Do not fall into the pit of lies that tell you just because you are in a bad situation, you have lost your faith or have been possessed by some demon. If you are possessed by the Holy Spirit, a demon cannot get in there. Jesus says you are kept by the power of God in 1 Peter 1:5. Friend, no one is stronger than God. NO ONE.

 

CARRYING THAT THOUGHT THROUGH THE DAY:

 

     Romans 8:38 & 39 really say it all. “For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

 

What can you do today to strengthen the power
of the Holy Spirit in your 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: September  10, 2025

THROUGH THE BIBLE ACCELERATED READING
^{(O.T.-1,   N.T. & PS.-2,   Prov. – Monthly)}
Isaiah 65 / Psalm 66
Proverbs 10 / John 9

 

THROUGH THE BIBLE OLD & NEW TESTAMENT DAILY
Pro. 8-9  /  1 Co. 14