Daily Devotionals

“Behold, the eye of the LORD is on those who fear him, on those who hope in his steadfast love,” - Psalm 33:22  In our culture the word hope implies “wishful thinking.” We say’ “I hope it’s going to rain” or “I hope I get that job.” Biblical hope, however, is the future tense of faith. Hebrews 11:1 teaches, “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for” or of what the future holds. Hope says, “I...

“And one called to another and said: ‘Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!’ And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke. And I said: ‘Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of ho...

“There was a great uproar, and some of the teachers of the law who were Pharisees stood up and argued vigorously. ‘We find nothing wrong with this man,’ they said. ‘What if a spirit or an angel has spoken to him?’ The dispute became so violent that the commander was afraid Paul would be torn to pieces by them. He ordered the troops to go down and take him away from them by force and bring him into...

“As they were shouting and throwing off their cloaks and flinging dust into the air, the commander ordered that Paul be taken into the barracks. He directed that he be flogged and interrogated in order to find out why the people were shouting at him like this. As they stretched him out to flog him, Paul said to the centurion standing there, ‘Is it legal for you to flog a Roman citizen who hasn’t e...

“The commander came up and arrested him and ordered him to be bound with two chains. Then he asked who he was and what he had done. Some in the crowd shouted one thing and some another, and since the commander could not get at the truth because of the uproar, he ordered that Paul be taken into the barracks. When Paul reached the steps, the violence of the mob was so great he had to be carried by t...

“After we had been there a number of days, a prophet named Agabus came down from Judea. Coming over to us, he took Paul’s belt, tied his own hands and feet with it and said, ‘The Holy Spirit says, ‘In this way the Jewish leaders in Jerusalem will bind the owner of this belt and will hand him over to the Gentiles.’ When we heard this, we and the people there pleaded with Paul not to go up to Jerusa...

“From Miletus, Paul sent to Ephesus for the elders of the church. When they arrived, he said to them: ‘You know how I lived the whole time I was with you, from the first day I came into the province of Asia. I served the Lord with great humility and with tears and in the midst of severe testing by the plots of my Jewish opponents. You know that I have not hesitated to preach anything that would be...

“About that time there arose a great disturbance about the Way. A silversmith named Demetrius, who made silver shrines of Artemis, brought in a lot of business for the craftsmen there. He called them together, along with the workers in related trades, and said: ‘You know, my friends, that we receive a good income from this business. And you see and hear how this fellow Paul has convinced and led a...

“Therefore know this day, and consider it in your heart, that the LORD Himself is God in heaven above and on the earth beneath; there is no other. You shall therefore keep His statutes and His commandments which I command you today that it may go well with you and with your children after you, and that you may prolong your days in the land which the LORD your God is giving you for all time.” - Deu...

“For ask now concerning the days that are past, which were before you, since the day that God created man on the earth, and ask from one end of heaven to the other, whether any great thing like this has happened, or anything like it has been heard. To you it was shown, that you might know that the LORD Himself is God; there is none other besides Him.” - Deuteronomy 4:32, 35It’s been said the quick...

“For you formed my inward parts; You covered me in my mother’s womb. I will praise You for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; marvelous are Your works, and that my soul knows very well.” - Psalm 139:13-14It is said that “no one is irreplaceable.” However, as far as God is concerned, everyone is irreplaceable. The Psalmist has already declared that God knows everything (vv 1-6); that He is everyw...

“O LORD, You have searched me and known me.You know my sitting down and my rising up;You understand my thought afar off.You comprehend my path and my lying down,And are acquainted with all my ways.For there is not a word on my tongue,But behold, O LORD, You know it altogether.” - Psalm 139:1-4Few passages in the Bible tell us more about the character of God as it applies to His relationship with u...

"Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God." - Romans 5:1-2If the Christian life is so victorious then why do pastors spend the majority of their time preaching to encourage defeated Christians? Many believers seem to cry out th...

"Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? 'Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’" - Matthew 6:30-31It’s been said that 95% of the things we worry about never happen. Then why do we worry?One of the biggest problems we ...

“Behold the proud, His soul is not upright in him; but the just shall live by his faith.” - Habakkuk 2:4Sometimes, it is difficult to believe God for the future because of how we view the past. Our verse contrasts the proud with the person of faith. Those who have been saved by Christ have humbled themselves before God, confessed their sin and depended upon Christ alone for their salvation. The pr...

"Yours, O LORD, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty, indeed everything that is in the heavens and the earth; Yours is the dominion, O LORD, and You exalt Yourself as head over all.” - 1 Chronicles 29:11We live in a busy and stressful society. It has been said that this is:The age of the half read page,And the quick hash and the mad dash.The bright night and...

Read Philippians 3:1-16.Have you ever eagerly looked for someone in a crowd? Occasionally I have the task of picking someone up at the airport. Recently, on one of these occasions, I witnessed one of our soldiers coming home to his wife. I do not know how long he had been deployed or where, but the excitement of the loved ones waiting for him told me this reunion would be special.As people exited ...

“But by the grace of God, I am what I am.” - 1 Corinthians 15:10As we think about the grace (God’s undeserved favor or generosity) we need to distinguish between three biblical terms. Justice, which is deserved punishment; mercy, which is exemption from that punishment; and grace in spite of what we may deserve.Let me illustrate. Suppose a police officer arrives at the scene of an accident where y...

Scripture Reading: Romans 8:31-39How high, how deep, how wide is the love of God? When I journeyed on my first mission trip to India, I felt great apprehension. The stories of persecution, bad water, and questionable food found me going to the throne of grace more often than usual. My fears were confronted as I stood before a small group of Hindus to share the good news of Jesus Christ. The look o...

Then Moses said, "I pray You, show me Your glory!" Exodus 33:18Dr. S. M. Lockridge was the Pastor of Calvary Baptist Church, San Diego CA from 1953 – 1993. He entered heaven in 2000. He is well-known for a passage out of his sermon titled “He’s My King”:“He’s enduringly strong, “He’s entirely sincere, He’s eternally steadfast. He’s immortally graceful. He’s imperially powerful. He’s impartially me...