TALKING TO OTHERS ABOUT JESUS Why is it easier to invite someone to church than it is to invite them to follow Jesus? Talking about church is not the most comfortable thing in our modern culture. It signals a shift in our everyday generic conversation with neighbors and coworkers, for it moves from that which… Read more »
One Year Bible Devotions
All One Year Bible devotions are based on the One Year Bible Online Reading Plan
“Now you have every spiritual gift you need as you eagerly wait for the return of our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Corinthians 1:7 NLT).
DOES EVERY CHURCH HAVE EVERY SPIRITUAL GIFT IT NEEDS? Paul told the Corinthian church that it already had every spiritual gift that it needed. Is this true for every church? Does God give every local body of believers every spiritual gift that they need to stand faithful until Christ’s return? Perhaps it is an overstatement… Read more »
“Watch out for people who cause divisions and upset people’s faith by teaching things contrary to what you have been taught. Stay away from them” (Romans 16:17 NLT).
RESPONDING TO THOSE WHO CAUSE DIVISIONS AND UPSET Paul gives two commands concerning those who cause divisions and upset people’s faith: 1) Watch out for them. Literally, keep an eye out for them. And 2) Stay away from them. Avoid such people. The prayer of Jesus in John 17 was that we would be… Read more »
“Also give my greetings to the church that meets in their home” (Romans 16:5 NLT).
THE CHURCH IS THE PEOPLE NOT THE STEEPLE In Paul’s letter to the Roman believers, he gave greetings to the church that met in the home of Aquila and Priscilla. In those days there were no church buildings, so the church met in homes or in public meeting facilities, such as the Hall of Tyrannus… Read more »
“I pray that God, the source of hope, will fill you completely with joy and peace because you trust in him. Then you will overflow with confident hope through the power of the Holy Spirit” (Romans 15:13 NLT).
DO YOU HAVE CONFIDENT HOPE? What is this “confident hope” and how can we obtain it? Confident hope is Christian hope. This is different from the hope we express as a wish. When we say, “I hope it doesn’t rain tomorrow,” we are expressing a wish without any promise of fulfillment. But Christian hope is… Read more »
“Ears to hear and eyes to see— both are gifts from the Lord” (Proverbs 20:12 NLT).
THE GIFT OF SPIRITUAL RECEPTIVITY One can have ears and eyes, yet still be deaf and blind. The Lord has made both the physical and the spiritual ability to hear. Both are grace. The physical we all understand, but few recognize the spiritual. The first offers wisdom of the physical world, the second makes one… Read more »
“Clothe yourself with the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ” (Romans 13:14 NLT).
WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE CLOTHED IN CHRIST? What does it mean to be “clothed in Christ?” This is a most worthy meditation. First, isn’t there the necessity of putting off our old clothes? Certainly, this is what the Word teaches us. Some of the articles of the old clothes are listed by… Read more »
“Live in harmony with each other. Don’t be too proud to enjoy the company of ordinary people. And don’t think you know it all!” (Romans 12:16 NLT).
LEARN TO ENJOY THE COMPANY OF ORDINARY PEOPLE Look for someone “ordinary,” or as in the KJV, someone of “low estate” to sit with next Sunday at church. Stop avoiding those that you feel are beneath you or who make you feel uncomfortable by their lower social status or awkward demeanor. And if you notice… Read more »
“For everything comes from him and exists by his power and is intended for his glory. All glory to him forever! Amen” (Romans 11:36 NLT).
EVERYTHING IS FROM, BY, FOR, AND TO GOD! Paul’s benediction at the end of Romans 11 is all encompassing. It declares that all things come from God, for He is the Creator. All things exist by God, for He is the Sustainer. All things are made for God’s glory, for creation displays His “invisible attributes,… Read more »
“Some time later King Jehoshaphat of Judah made an alliance with King Ahaziah of Israel, who was very wicked” (2 Chronicles 20:35 NLT).
DO NOT BE UNEQUALLY YOKED The KJV renders “some time later” as “after this.” The phrase begs the question, “After what?” No doubt it refers to the earlier warning from the prophet Jehu who warned that God’s “wrath had gone out against” Jehoshaphat because of his alliance with the wicked Israelite king, Ahab. For Jehoshaphat… Read more »