Posts Categorized: Devotional

You Feed Them

Scripture

Mark 6:35-37 NLT

Late in the afternoon his disciples came to him and said, “This is a remote place, and it’s already getting late. Send the crowds away so they can go to the nearby farms and villages and buy something to eat.” But Jesus said, “You feed them.” “With what?” they asked. “We’d have to work for months to earn enough money to buy food for all these people!”

Consider

One of the more famous stories about Jesus is the feeding of the five thousand. Jesus was well into his ministry when this miracle took place. Crowds had been flocking to him in ever increasing numbers.

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Generational Goodness

Scripture

Deuteronomy 5:8-10 ESV

You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is on the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or serve them; for I the LORD your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.

Consider

You’ll find evidence of this truth in every family tree.

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Glad to Forgive

Scripture

Micah 7:18-19 NIV

Who is a God like you, who pardons sin and forgives the transgressions of the remnant of his inheritance? You do not stay angry forever but delight to show mercy. You will again have compassion on us; you will tread our sins underfoot and hurl all our iniquities into the depths of the sea.

Consider

There is a striking truth in the above passage: God delights to show mercy. The Israelites had repeatedly rejected and offended God with their wicked ways, yet God was glad to forgive the very ones who had betrayed his friendship. What about us?

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Please God First

Scripture

1 Thessalonians 2:3-4 CEB

Our appeal isn’t based on false information, the wrong motives, or deception. Rather, we have been examined and approved by God to be trusted with the good news, and that’s exactly how we speak. We aren’t trying to please people, but we are trying to please God, who continues to examine our hearts.

Consider

From the time of Paul until the present, people have been skeptical of the good news of Christ. In Paul’s time, scam artists and false healers had come among the believers in Thessalonica and given traveling preachers like Paul a bad reputation.

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Better than Kisses

Scripture

Proverbs 27:5-6 NLT

An open rebuke is better than hidden love!

Wounds from a sincere friend are better than many kisses from an enemy.

Consider

This pair of proverbs, upon reflection, may seem reasonable. A friend’s critical observation, after all, should mean more to us than empty flattery from an adversary. In that moment of confrontation, however, we often react as if we believe the opposite. We take offense at a well-meant rebuke because we expect our friends to affirm us and our enemies to attack us.

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