| Devotional | Not Imitation but Incarnation
Romans 12:1-5
Christ wants to live His life through us. He wants to use our eyes to behold the world situation as it is today. He wants to use our ears to hear the cry of the unsaved and the cry of those who are in need. He wants to use our lips to tell others the Gospel. He wants to use our hearts to express compassion and love to everyone. He ...read |
| Devotional | Not Words but Works
James 2:14-26
A cold, austere, intellectual faith that does not manifest itself by action is nothing more than a mental assent to the existence of God. James taught that this kind of faith is really no faith at all--it is a dead faith. It is not enough just to believe that God exists or even to believe that He died on the cross for the sins of ...read |
| Devotional | Not "Ought" but "Are"
Colossians 2:10-15
Realizing that all of the fullness of the Godhead dwells in bodily form in the Lord Jesus Christ, it is then awesome to consider that we "are complete in him" (Col. 2:10). We are filled with His fullness. Notice it does not say we ought to be complete in Him; it says we are complete in Him. Of course, believers are to consta ...read |
| Devotional | Nothing More to Say
Job 40:1-5
Job had contended with God. He had argued against God's dealing with him, which was the root of his problem. He, the creature, had sat in judgment against God, the Creator. He had even accused God of doing the wrong thing.
Now God had spoken to Job and made His presence known. From nature He had emphasized very obvious lessons so ...read |
| Devotional | Now Then Do It
2 Samuel 3:1,7-18
David's waiting on the Lord indeed paid off. At the end of seven and a half years, God began to arrange events so that David was finally crowned king of all Israel. Abner, who was general of the armies of Israel, had put Ish-bosheth on the throne of Saul to reign over 11 tribes. However, when Ish-bosheth quarreled with him co ...read |
| Devotional | Old Yet Ever New
1 John 2:7-11
The statements concerning the old and the new commandment sound paradoxical. They can be readily reconciled, however. The Apostle John wrote here, as 1 John 2:9-11 shows, about our love for one another. In a sense this is not a new commandment; it is an old one that goes back to the time when God made man in His own image. Since m ...read |
| Devotional | One Man's Testimony
Romans 1:13-17
In Romans 1:14-16 Paul made three significant statements about himself. First, he said, "I am debtor" (v. 14). He realized he had an obligation because he had seen the truth concerning Jesus Christ. Those of us who have been reconciled to God through the blood of Jesus Christ have a ministry of reconciliation--we have an obligat ...read |
| Devotional | One Step at a Time
1 Kings 17:2-7
Obeying God always comes first, then He reveals the next step. Too many of us, in doing the work of God, want to see the end result immediately. But that is not trusting God, that is trusting sight. Faith does not see; it trusts and obeys. When Elijah had delivered His message to Ahab, the Lord told him what his next step was to b ...read |
| Devotional | One With Christ!
Romans 6:1-10
After an individual is justified by faith in Christ, he discovers that he still has a sin nature. This gives him trouble, and he finds himself committing sins that he does not wish to commit. Soon he may become a believer who is dominated by sin. What does God do about this?
The solution to this problem is our identification wit ...read |
| Devotional | Open Ears-Closed Mouth
James 1: 19-21
James wanted all believers to be alert to comprehend the Word of God. This is very important since "faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God" (Rom. 10:17). The Word of God gives us faith to believe, and when we believe, God creates new life within us.
Many people hear the Word of God, but to some of them it is ...read |
| Devotional | Power for You-Today!
Ephesians 1: 19-23
The Scriptures frequently refer to God's power as it relates to the believer. Ephesians 6:10 says, "Be strong in the Lord and in the power of his might." Philippians 1:6 says, "Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ." Colossians 1:29 re ...read |
| Devotional | Practicing Your Position
Colossians 3:5-11
It is wonderful to realize that, as believers, we live by the power of Christ's resurrection life. As we do this, we are letting Christ live again in the sense that He is living out His life through us. This is what Paul desired for the Ephesian believers, for he prayed that they might know "what is the exceeding greatness o ...read |
| Article | Prayer - Resource For Victory
In the book of Ephesians, prayer reaches the highest pinnacle of any place in the Bible. Two of Paul's prayers are recorded in this book. The first prayer (1:15-21) was for the believers to have the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Christ. The second prayer (3:14-21) was for believers to have an experiential knowledge of Christ's ...read |
| Devotional | Prayer That Works
James 5:17-20; 1 Kings 18:36-39
Because this was such a crucial prayer, it is worth noting the specific things for which Elijah prayed. He had four specific requests of God. First, "Let it be known this day that thou art God in Israel" (1 Kings 18:36). The burden of Elijah's heart was that others would know the true God and that they would r ...read |
| Devotional | Prices-or Values?
James 5:1-6
Christians can become so addicted to money and to achieving a higher level of living that they lose all perspective and forget what they are really here on earth to accomplish. Those who live only for the pleasures of the moment stand under the condemnation of Paul's words of 1 Timothy 5:6: "She that liveth in pleasure is dead whi ...read |
| Devotional | Qualities That Please God
Job 1: 1-5
In brief but pointed phrases Job is described in the first verse in the book: "There was a man in the land of Uz, whose name was Job; and that man was perfect and upright, and one that feared God, and eschewed evil" (Job 1:1).
First of all, he is said to be "perfect." This word does not refer to sinless perfection but to the fa ...read |
| Devotional | Questioning God's Love
Job 2:1-10
Satan did not give up easily. He did not succeed the first time, but he would try again. He had removed Job's possessions and his family, but now he was going to touch Job where he thought every person was vulnerable. Satan's proposition now was to add physical suffering to the problems of this man whom he thought was strained to th ...read |
| Devotional | Restoration Follows Forgiveness
2 Samuel 12:11-23
When God forgives, He at once restores. He never carries a grudge. Nevertheless, we must expect to face consequences because of our sin. The Lord uses the rod of discipline on His children, and one aspect of that discipline is to let us reap what we sow. While He restores us to fellowship, the bitter cup we have brewed for our ...read |
| Devotional | Results of Neglect
1 Kings 1:5-14, 28-31
David's last years, possibly eight or nine after the death of Absalom (2 Sam. 18), were comparatively quiet. But there came a moment toward the last days of his life, after he had reigned almost 40 years, that a crisis began because he had been careless in making known his choice of a successor.
This crisis occurred w ...read |
| Devotional | Sealed and Sure!
2 Corinthians 1:18-22
A key verse related to the sealing of the Holy Spirit is Ephesians 1:13: "In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise." This truth is also stated in 2 Corinthians 1:22: "Who hath also se ...read |
Theodore Epp