Category - Devotionals

4/5 Psalm 22:1-11
For the choir director: A psalm of David, to be sung to the tune “Doe of the Dawn.” My God, my God! Why have you forsaken me? Why do you remain so distant? Why do you ignore my cries for help? 2 Every day I call to you, my God, but you do not answer. Every night you hear my voice, but I find no relief. 3 Yet you are holy. The praises of Israel surround your throne. 4 Our ancestors trusted in you, and you rescued them. 5 You heard their cries for help and saved them. They put their trust in you and were never disappointed. 6 But I am a worm and not a man. I am scorned and despised by all! 7 Everyone who sees me mocks me. They sneer and shake their heads, saying, 8 “Is this the one who relies on the LORD? Then let the LORD save him! If the LORD loves him so much, let the LORD rescue him!” 9 Yet you brought me safely from my mother’s womb and led me to trust you when I was a nursing infant. 10 I was thrust upon you at my birth. You have been my God from the moment I was born. 11 Do not stay so far from me, for trouble is near, and no one else can help me.
CONFIDENCE
We trust God based on His Word. We begin with confidence and yet the world is a scary place. We struggle but we believe. His Word effectively speaks to our situation. His deliverance is forthcoming. We remember. Now we hear His promise and have experienced His promise. We struggle and we believe.

4/4 Isaiah 53:7-12
He was oppressed and treated harshly, yet he never said a word. He was led as a lamb to the slaughter. And as a sheep is silent before the shearers, he did not open his mouth. 8 From prison and trial they led him away to his death. But who among the people realized that he was dying for their sins — that he was suffering their punishment? 9 He had done no wrong, and he never deceived anyone. But he was buried like a criminal; he was put in a rich man’s grave. 10 But it was the LORD’s good plan to crush him and fill him with grief. Yet when his life is made an offering for sin, he will have a multitude of children, many heirs. He will enjoy a long life, and the LORD’s plan will prosper in his hands. 11 When he sees all that is accomplished by his anguish, he will be satisfied. And because of what he has experienced, my righteous servant will make it possible for many to be counted righteous, for he will bear all their sins. 12 I will give him the honors of one who is mighty and great, because he exposed himself to death. He was counted among those who were sinners. He bore the sins of many and interceded for sinners.
SUFFERED
He suffered and died for you and me. He created us. He knew our need. He offers forgiveness of our sin. Jesus loves you and me.

4/3 Isaiah 53:1-6
Who has believed our message? To whom will the LORD reveal his saving power? 2 My servant grew up in the LORD’s presence like a tender green shoot, sprouting from a root in dry and sterile ground. There was nothing beautiful or majestic about his appearance, nothing to attract us to him. 3 He was despised and rejected — a man of sorrows, acquainted with bitterest grief. We turned our backs on him and looked the other way when he went by. He was despised, and we did not care. 4 Yet it was our weaknesses he carried; it was our sorrows that weighed him down. And we thought his troubles were a punishment from God for his own sins! 5 But he was wounded and crushed for our sins. He was beaten that we might have peace. He was whipped, and we were healed! 6 All of us have strayed away like sheep. We have left God’s paths to follow our own. Yet the LORD laid on him the guilt and sins of us all.
GUILTY
Jesus accepted my sin, I was guilty and He suffered and died for me and for you. He bore our sin. He paid our price. As a result of His sacrifice we can be set free. Ask Jesus to come into your heart and forgive your sin. He will.

4/2 Isaiah 52:8-15
The watchmen shout and sing with joy, for before their very eyes they see the LORD bringing his people home to Jerusalem. 9 Let the ruins of Jerusalem break into joyful song, for the LORD has comforted his people. He has redeemed Jerusalem. 10 The LORD will demonstrate his holy power before the eyes of all the nations. The ends of the earth will see the salvation of our God. 11 Go now, leave your bonds and slavery. Put Babylon behind you, with everything it represents, for it is unclean to you. You are the LORD’s holy people. Purify yourselves, you who carry home the vessels of the LORD. 12 You will not leave in a hurry, running for your lives. For the LORD will go ahead of you, and the God of Israel will protect you from behind. 13 See, my servant will prosper; he will be highly exalted. 14 Many were amazed when they saw him — beaten and bloodied, so disfigured one would scarcely know he was a person. 15 And he will again startle many nations. Kings will stand speechless in his presence. For they will see what they had not previously been told about; they will understand what they had not heard about.
CHOOSE
Will you take counsel of your fears? Will you let that great deceiver Satan cause you to lose hope in your future? Trust God. Live today. Give Christ tomorrow. The Lord will take care of you. The Lord loves you. Accept His love and trust His guidance. Live today for Christ.

4/1 Isaiah 52:1-7
Wake up, wake up, O Zion! Clothe yourselves with strength. Put on your beautiful clothes, O holy city of Jerusalem, for unclean and godless people will no longer enter your gates. 2 Rise from the dust, O Jerusalem. Remove the slave bands from your neck, O captive daughter of Zion. 3 For this is what the LORD says: “When I sold you into exile, I received no payment. Now I can redeem you without paying for you.” 4 This is what the Sovereign LORD says: “Long ago my people went to live as resident foreigners in Egypt. Now they have been oppressed without cause by Assyria. 5 And now, what is this?” asks the LORD. “Why are my people enslaved again? Those who rule them shout in exultation. My name is being blasphemed all day long. 6 But I will reveal my name to my people, and they will come to know its power. Then at last they will recognize that it is I who speaks to them.” 7 How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who bring good news of peace and salvation, the news that the God of Israel reigns!
ACTIVE
We serve and alert, active God. The Lord God Almighty is knowledgeable about His creation. He knows us. He wants to be involved in our life. If we are to grow we will spend time with Him. He knows what we need and seeks to give it to us.

3/31 Genesis 12:14-20
14 And sure enough, when they arrived in Egypt, everyone spoke of her beauty. 15 When the palace officials saw her, they sang her praises to their king, the pharaoh, and she was taken into his harem. 16 Then Pharaoh gave Abram many gifts because of her — sheep, cattle, donkeys, male and female servants, and camels. 17 But the LORD sent a terrible plague upon Pharaoh’s household because of Sarai, Abram’s wife. 18 So Pharaoh called for Abram and accused him sharply. “What is this you have done to me?” he demanded. “Why didn’t you tell me she was your wife? 19 Why were you willing to let me marry her, saying she was your sister? Here is your wife! Take her and be gone!” 20 Pharaoh then sent them out of the country under armed escort — Abram and his wife, with all their household and belongings.
TRUST
You do not have to lie or cheat to accomplish God’s plan for your life. Listen to what the Lord says. Be faithful and ready to respond to His direction. Trust the Lord to see you through the difficult days of your life.

3/30 Genesis 12:8-13
8 After that, Abram traveled southward and set up camp in the hill country between Bethel on the west and Ai on the east. There he built an altar and worshiped the LORD. 9 Then Abram traveled south by stages toward the Negev. 10 At that time there was a severe famine in the land, so Abram went down to Egypt to wait it out. 11 As he was approaching the borders of Egypt, Abram said to Sarai, “You are a very beautiful woman. 12 When the Egyptians see you, they will say, ‘This is his wife. Let’s kill him; then we can have her!’ 13 But if you say you are my sister, then the Egyptians will treat me well because of their interest in you, and they will spare my life.”
TRUST
Trust the Lord. You do not have to make complicated and risky plans for you life. The Lord will guide your path and you can walk in His strength and wisdom. Humility and love are by-products of a closer walk with the Lord.

3/29 Genesis 12:4-7
4 So Abram departed as the LORD had instructed him, and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he left Haran. 5 He took his wife, Sarai, his nephew Lot, and all his wealth — his livestock and all the people who had joined his household at Haran — and finally arrived in Canaan. 6 Traveling through Canaan, they came to a place near Shechem and set up camp beside the oak at Moreh. At that time, the area was inhabited by Canaanites. 7 Then the LORD appeared to Abram and said, “I am going to give this land to your offspring. ” And Abram built an altar there to commemorate the LORD’s visit.
FOLLOW
Follow the Lord. He will guide you carefully through the pitfalls of life. Follow the Lord and He will not let you down. You follow the Lord.

3/28 Genesis 12:1-3
1 Then the LORD told Abram, “Leave your country, your relatives, and your father’s house, and go to the land that I will show you. 2 I will cause you to become the father of a great nation. I will bless you and make you famous, and I will make you a blessing to others. 3 I will bless those who bless you and curse those who curse you. All the families of the earth will be blessed through you.”
PROMISE
God’s children are the people of promise. The Lord promises to take care of you from this point on until forever. He will not leave you nor forsake you. He loves you beyond your ability to comprehend. If you have asked Christ to come into your life and save you, you now have a Father who loves you and is always seeking your best good.

3/27 Deuteronomy 8:1-3
1 “Be careful to obey all the commands I am giving you today. Then you will live and multiply, and you will enter and occupy the land the LORD swore to give your ancestors. 2 Remember how the LORD your God led you through the wilderness for forty years, humbling you and testing you to prove your character, and to find out whether or not you would really obey his commands. 3 Yes, he humbled you by letting you go hungry and then feeding you with manna, a food previously unknown to you and your ancestors. He did it to teach you that people need more than bread for their life; real life comes by feeding on every word of the LORD.
OBEY
Problems come and go but this never changes: God’s Word is true and life giving. Read His Word and apply it to your life. The Living Word will be used by the Lord to change you.