Devotionals

Daily readings to encourage your heart and mind in the pursuit of God and his glory.

  • Christmas in Time and Space

    Luke 2:1–7

    The Bible insists that the Son of God entered history at a specific point and remains united to a human nature in the person of Jesus Christ forever. This is radically different from the Hindu concept of incarnation, which says ...Read More

  • The Eye of the Beholder

    Ecclesiastes 3:11a

    Although the subject is always deeply involved in any encounter with the arts, we must recognize that there is one ultimate standard of beauty—the Lord Himself. Scripture often speaks of the “beauty of the Lord” (Ps. 27:4), and we dare ...Read More

  • Exposing the Darkness

    Ephesians 5:11-14

    Matthew Henry comments, “We must witness against the sins of others, and endeavor to convince them of their sinfulness in our words; but especially by the holiness of our lives.” Our holy living has consequences not only for our own ...Read More

  • Impurity Condemned

    Ephesians 5:3-5

    The antidote to covetousness and the sexual immorality it inspires is thanksgiving (Eph. 5:4). When we recognize how greatly the Lord has blessed us and how we do not deserve God’s favor, we are more likely to be content with ...Read More

  • Ignorance and Hardness

    Ephesians 4:17-19

    Sin affects our entire being, including our ability to love, our capacity to reason, and our physical bodies. The longer we persist in sin, the harder it is to see and do the will of God, so we must endeavor ...Read More

  • The World, the Flesh, and the Devil

    Ephesians 2:2-3

    Paul makes a subtle shift in Ephesians 2:1–3 from “you” (the Gentile Ephesians) to “we” (Jews like Paul and the Gentiles), indicating the universality of sin. John Chrysostom writes, “All are included. It is not possible to say that anyone ...Read More

  • Final Greetings for Philemon

    Philemon 23-25

    We who profess the name of Christ must follow Him even when He gives rules we do not like. People who are tempted to commit homosexual acts may not like the call to turn from these deeds, but if they ...Read More

  • Sin’s Reality and the Ideal

    Philemon 8

    As today’s study shows, understanding the cultural background of a passage in Scripture is important to figuring out why an author says what he says. In turn, as we hope to show in future studies, knowing this historical context also ...Read More

  • Joy and Comfort in Christ

    Philemon 7

    As we think about the believers in days gone by, it is always important that we acknowledge the truth about the things that they did. We do these believers no favors if we pretend that participation in ungodly systems of ...Read More

  • A New Humanity in Christ

    Colossians 3:9-11

    The image of God has not been entirely destroyed in fallen humanity, but our sense of what it means to function as we were originally designed has been severely warped. Consequently, we must learn what it means to be human, ...Read More

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