NOVEMBER 29 DEVOTIONAL BIBLE READING: JOHN 14:19-24 Where there is no growth something is wrong. When we have an infant there is an expectation that we must do most everything for them. But, we also expect them to grow and mature as they age to be able to do things for themselves. If someone is twenty years old and still having their parents do everything for them we would all agree that things are not right there for some reason. Spiritual growth is much the same. There is d

NOVEMBER 28 DEVOTIONAL BIBLE READING:  HEBREWS 6:13-20 God is holy and God is omnipotent. It is He who decides who can come into His presence and by what means they may come. In the Old Testament there was a barrier that stood between God and man in the place where God said He would meet man. The curtain that separated the Holy Place from the Holy of Holies in the Temple was that barrier. It was God's command that only the High Priest, and he only, on one day a year after man

NOVEMBER 27 DEVOTIONAL BIBLE READING:  1 PETER 2:11-12 Do not be mistaken...there is a battle going on. Paul says the battle we are in is not against flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers, spirit forces of wickedness in heavenly places. These wicked demons from hell are warring against you as a child of God. They want to see you fall and thus lose your testimony. The Devil knows he can't have you, for you are a child of God. But he sure is going to do everyth

NOVEMBER 26 DEVOTIONAL BIBLE READING:  COLOSSIANS 3:22-25 At times it can be difficult to submit ourselves to certain people in our lives. We may have an employer that is very difficult to work for, but the Bible says we are to submit and work hard for them. As a matter of fact, we are told as Christians that wherever we work and for whomever we work, whether they are pleasant or unpleasant, we are to work for them as if we are working for the Lord. The truth is, as Christian

NOVEMBER 25 DEVOTIONAL BIBLE READING: JOHN 16:5-10 The Devil deals with guilt and accusations, while the Holy Spirit brings conviction. Have you ever felt overwhelmed with a sin that you have done long ago, that you know you had confessed and you know the Lord had forgiven you? I want to tell you that is the guilt of the Devil, not the conviction of the Holy Spirit. Have you ever asked for forgiveness over and over again for some sin that you know you had confessed and had re

NOVEMBER 24 DEVOTIONAL BIBLE READING: JAMES 1:16-18 Thank you God! Thanksgiving is an expression of our faith. In giving thanks we acknowledge who is the provider of every blessing in our lives. God is always pouring blessings into our lives, everyday and in every way. Our thankfulness to our Lord also reveals a heart that is filled with the joy of the Lord. How many times have you sang that wonderful old hymn, "Count Your Blessings?” You can't sing that song properly without

NOVEMBER 23 DEVOTIONAL BIBLE READING: 1 PETER 3:13-17 With my own kids and with every church I have been blessed to pastor, I have always told them that they need to know what they believe and why they believe it. For my kids the answer of, "because my Dad said," was not good enough. And to the churches I have pastored, to say, "because the pastor said" was not enough. The matter of true discipleship is to make people followers of Jesus, not to make them followers of a certai

NOVEMBER 22 DEVOTIONAL BIBLE READING: HABAKKUK 3 Thankfulness and joy, from where do these come? What is your source of joy? Far too many people treat God as if He is this exalted servant in the sky. They are happy with Him when He does what they want...when they want it...and how they want it done. They are glad that He is just a little more powerful than man, but not to powerful as to neglect to do what man demands. And when He doesn't perform up to man's expectations, we g

NOVEMBER 21 DEVOTIONAL BIBLE READING: EPHESIANS 1:3-6 We are an extremely blessed people of God! If we are not careful though, we can let fear cause us to miss those wonderful blessings. That is the all–consuming nature of fear; it robs us of the joy of realizing all the wonderful blessings that the Lord has poured out into our lives. We continually have a choice to either focus on fear or focus on the Lord. The writer of Hebrews tells us to, "...fix our eyes on Jesus who is

NOVEMBER 20 DEVOTIONAL BIBLE READING: 2 TIMOTHY 1:3-7 It is certainly true that we live in a time that is consumed and controlled by fear. People are running crazy in the streets, causing havoc and destruction, because they have let their fears consume them. In this age of social media there is every website imaginable putting out information about everything imaginable to create fear in the hearts of people. Fear based on people receiving half and partial truths and sometime

NOVEMBER 19 DEVOTIONAL BIBLE READING: 1 SAMUEL 15:22-23 Rebellion is a huge thing in the Bible...we are told that "Rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft." How is this so? We were created by God, for God. It is His intent that we walk and live controlled by the Holy Spirit who lives within us. Witchcraft speaks of control also, but not the control of God’s Spirit. Witchcraft seeks to manipulate a person to do things that are beyond their control. It literally seeks to control

NOVEMBER 18 DEVOTIONAL BIBLE READING: 1 PETER 4:7-11 Love is at the top of the list...it is above all things. The Bible declares that God is love. It commands us to love God with all our being and to love others as we do ourselves. It is by our love that the world knows we are the followers of Christ. Love is giving and it covers a multitude of our sins and shortcomings. Love is kind and caring. It is long suffering and thinks the best of others. It celebrates what is good an

NOVEMBER 17 DEVOTIONAL BIBLE READING: PROVERBS 27:1 On this earth we are only promised today. We are told not to boast about tomorrow as if it is guaranteed, or as a means to continually put off what the Lord has called us to today. There will never be another today...all the people of your today will never be the same again. The opportunities of today will never be there in the same way again. The Lord has given us today, with all it holds, to be what He has called us to be

NOVEMBER 16 DEVOTIONAL BIBLE READING: Psalm 7 Life doesn't have to be miserable, because while it is true we can't always chose what happens to us in life, we do chose how we respond to it. Paul said that he had learned to be content in whatever state he found himself in. Some believe, incorrectly, that if they just had everything they want and everything always went their way and they lived in the most wonderful place on earth, then they would be happy. I have met people who

NOVEMBER 15 DEVOTIONAL BIBLE READING: 2 Corinthians 12:7-10 So many times the Scripture makes statements that are completely the opposite of the way the world thinks. "When I am weak, then I am strong"..."You must give up your life to save your life"..."If you would be the greatest…you must be the least" and so many more. Have you learned yet that to live in Christ sets you at odds with the way the world thinks and lives? The problem with far too many Christians is that we wo

NOVEMBER 14 DEVOTIONAL BIBLE READING: 1 Corinthians 9:24-27 Paul uses the analogy of a race to describe our lives and the need to continue on until the race is won. It is the Lord who sets the perimeters of our race. He decides the course. He sets the length. He determines how victory is obtained. This is not a race in the classic athletic competition sense, in that we are not competing with other believers to see who can outdo who. This is the kind of race that we are all in

NOVEMBER 13 DEVOTIONAL BIBLE READING: 2 Corinthians 3:12-18 There is a miracle happening in you right now if you are a child of God. God is at work in you performing the miracle of transformation. He is making you daily like His Son, Jesus. Everything we have as believers is because of Christ. We belong to God because of Jesus. We are saved because of Jesus. Our sins are eternally forgiven because of Jesus. We are the very children of God because of Jesus. We have eternal lif

NOVEMBER 12 DEVOTIONAL BIBLE READING: Deuteronomy 7:9-11 "Nothing can separate you from the love of God which is Christ Jesus our Lord." Nothing means nothing! In the 8th chapter of Romans, Paul had just gone through an extensive and exhaustive list of categories that we humans might assume would cause us to be separated from God...things that would cause us to no longer be His children, or have His salvation. When he got through with the list his biblical conclusion was, bec

NOVEMBER 11 DEVOTIONAL BIBLE READING: ISAIAH 61:10-11 One of the saddest verses in the Scripture is Matthew 7:23..."I will say to them depart from Me, you workers of iniquity, for I never knew you!" Jesus is speaking to a group of supposed believers, who were not His followers at all. In the previous verse these bragged about all that they had done for Him...they boasted of casting our demons, healing the sick and many miracles...but Jesus said, "I never knew you!" Religious

NOVEMBER 10 DEVOTIONAL BIBLE READING: LUKE 12:35-48 The Lord came to change us from the inside-out. Too often we believe that it is a system that changes people or that ultimately makes a difference. However, it is not the system...but the character and integrity of the people within the system that make the difference. To be sure there are systems that are better than others, but it is not the systems by themselves that can make people better...it is people of character and