Keywords In God’s Word

Are You Enslaved?
December 23, 2025

KEY FROM GOD’S WORD:

Proverbs 23:6
Eat thou not the bread of him that hath an evil eye, neither desire thou his dainty meats:

THOUGHTS ON GOD’S WORD:

     It is easier than ever to get credit nowadays. I often receive mailings from credit card companies asking me to use their cards. Why are they so interested in me using these little pieces of plastic? It is because they know the average person will run up more bills on these accounts than they can pay for in a month. This is especially true during the holiday gift-giving season. Then, when the accounts are not paid by month’s end, they get to charge you interest. Many people today are paying monthly payments to these companies that just barely pay the interest. Some people are still paying off last year’s Christmas while charging ahead into this year’s debt. Once a person becomes caught in this high-interest nightmare, for some, it seems almost impossible to get out.

     They never told you this when they called or sent an invitation to join their card, did they? Did they say, “Hello, we would like you to run up an account with us that you can never pay back, so we can charge you interest on that amount until you die?” Well, of course not. They tell you all about the benefits and the low interest for the first three months. Usually, when I tell them I pay off my cards every month and have a “zero” balance on all of them, they are not interested in talking with me anymore. Why, it is simple math. It is because I will not make them any money.

     Our verse today refers to this very thing. Do not get sucked into the fancy speeches and nice voice. Do not desire their dainty goods. This may very well lead you into a path of financial nightmares.

CARRYING THAT THOUGHT THROUGH THE DAY:

    I know there are some Christian Economists who say that we as Christians are not to be in debt at all. This seems impossible from time to time. However, being a good steward of what God entrusts us with means keeping our debt manageable and to a minimum. Give people your love this Christmas. This is all they want anyway. If they want more than your real love for them, should you be buying them gifts anyway? Let’s not owe our lives to the world. Why should we? We gave our lives to God.

How would you say you are doing at stewarding
the resources God has entrusted to you?

IF YOU ARE JOURNALING:

Ask yourself what MY THOUGHTS are 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: December 23, 2025

THROUGH THE BIBLE ACCELERATED READING
^{(OT-1, NT & PS-2, Prov-Monthly)}
Nehemiah 3, 4 / Psalm 142
Proverbs 23 / Revelations 10, 11

THROUGH THE BIBLE OLD & NEW TESTAMENT DAILY
Zephaniah  /  Revelation 15

He Keeps Me
December 16, 2025

KEY FROM GOD’S WORD:

Jude 1-2 & 24
Jude, the servant of Jesus Christ, and brother of James, to them that are sanctified by God the Father, and preserved in Jesus Christ, and called: Mercy unto you, and peace, and love, be multiplied…. Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy,

 

THOUGHTS ON GOD’S WORD:

 

      I always wonder as I read the pages of God’s Word what people do with certain Bible verses when they believe you can somehow lose your salvation. Jude 1 says I am preserved in Jesus Christ and called. If I am preserved in Christ, how can I lose that preservation? Not only preserved but also called or assured of it. It is obvious that Jesus would have to somehow be weakened and allow me to slip through His protection.

 

      Jude 24 says, “unto Him that is able to keep you from falling.” This person would be Christ and the Holy Spirit, who are then able to keep me from falling. However, it does not stop there. He will not only keep me from falling, but it goes on to say, “and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory.” Therefore, if He can keep me from falling, He will preserve me, and He will present me, how can I lose this precious Salvation?

 

      The only explanation for someone who constantly walks contrary to the Word of God, for someone who has little or no remorse for their sin, and a person who will not yield to the chastising of the Holy Spirit is…THEY WERE MOST LIKELY NEVER SAVED TO BEGIN WITH! We cannot break free from God; we are not that strong. A person cannot be unpreserved. God’s Word says Christians are preserved. The only explanation is they were never preserved, never kept, never truly in Christ.

 

CARRYING THAT THOUGHT THROUGH THE DAY:

 

    The Bible tells us often to examine ourselves to see if we are in the Lord or not. It is not because we can slip out of His Almighty grip, but because many people never place themselves in His grip to begin with. They never believed in Christ; they just did not want to go to hell. When you give Christ your all, He will preserve you.

 

What does your self-exam reveal to your heart?

 

IF YOU ARE JOURNALING:

Ask yourself what MY THOUGHTS are 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: December 16, 2025

THROUGH THE BIBLE ACCELERATED READING
^{(OT-1, NT & PS-2, Prov-Monthly)}
Zechariah 1-3 / Psalm 135
Proverbs 16 / Jude

 

THROUGH THE BIBLE OLD & NEW TESTAMENT DAILY
Obadiah  /  Revelation 6

 

Party Or Priestly?
December 9, 2025

KEY FROM GOD’S WORD:

Lamentations 5:7-8
Our fathers have sinned, and are not; and we have borne their iniquities. Servants have ruled over us: there is none that doth deliver us out of their hand.

THOUGHTS ON GOD’S WORD:

     When our forefathers of the United States of America began the framework of this great country, they did so based on principles written in God’s Word. It was truly a nation intended to be under the authority of the One and Only True God. Most of the colonies and states required a person to be a God-fearing individual before they could run or be considered for office. Today, it is very much the opposite. Crooks, liars, actors, or thieves have a better chance in politics today than anyone who might stand up and say, “I believe in the one true God.” The belief seems to be that crooks, liars, actors, and such are everywhere, so they must represent the people in general. The fear of the masses today seems to be that “Godly people are too far right and would bring in a right-wing agenda.”

     Friends, many of us might have to admit that our fathers have sinned. They allowed this to get this way. They voted for their pocketbooks and not their moral beliefs. They voted for the party line, not priestly living. They voted for a Charismatic Personality over a Christian Leader. Our fathers have sinned, and we are bearing their iniquities. Servants, or another way to say that would be “The Lost,” have rule over us. Psalm 12:8 says, “The wicked walk on every side, when the vilest men are exalted.” Oh, how true it was then, and how the same is true today. The more we vote for sinful men and women into leadership, the worse it will always get. None of them can deliver us from this sinfulness. No program, pledge, policy, or platform can bring about righteousness. Only God can do that.

CARRYING THAT THOUGHT THROUGH THE DAY:

    I know many people have quit reading already. They want to bury their head in the sand and say, “There should be a separation of the church and state.” Sadly, it was this type of thinking that got us here, and that thinking will only make things worse. Let’s vote for God when we have a chance.

When given the opportunity, will you vote for God and His will?

IF YOU ARE JOURNALING:

Ask yourself what MY THOUGHTS are 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: December 9, 2025

THROUGH THE BIBLE ACCELERATED READING
^{(OT-1, NT & PS-2, Prov-Monthly)}
Lamentations 4, 5 / Psalm 127
Proverbs 9 / 2 Timothy 3, 4

THROUGH THE BIBLE OLD & NEW TESTAMENT DAILY
Hosea 5-9  /  3 John