Turning Point

Turning Point; David Jeremiah – God With Us

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Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel.
Isaiah 7:14

Recommended Reading: Psalm 46:7-11

Greg Livingstone, the missionary giant who died last year, never knew his dad. Nor was his stepfather in his life. Greg was raised in foster homes. But when he found Christ as Savior, he said Jesus took up residence in him. “I had finally been adopted by a Father who would stick with me.”1

There are times you might feel alone, but always know God is with you. He’s immediately accessible to you wherever you go. Jesus was called Immanuel, meaning “God with us.” He has adopted you into His family. He loves you constantly. We certainly need human companionship, but when we don’t have as much fellowship as we need, let’s look to Him.

If you’re feeling alone today, you can talk to God and give Him thanks for never leaving your side.

I must learn the art of taking minute vacations—of slowing down to look at a flower, to chat with a friend, to pat a dog, to smile at a child, to read a few pages from a good book. I need to take more time to reflect, ponder, and enjoy companionship with God.
Greg Livingstone

  1. Greg Livingstone, You’ve Got Libya (Monarch Books, 2014), 52.

 

 

https://www.davidjeremiah.org

Our Daily Bread

Our Daily Bread – Life and Death

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Death is the destiny of everyone; the living should take this to heart. Ecclesiastes 7:2

Today’s Scripture

Ecclesiastes 7:1-10

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Today’s Devotion

Besides attending ceremonies and signing policies after taking the oath of office, new US presidents are greeted with a cold reality: They start making their own funeral plans. That way the country will be prepared to celebrate their lives when they die. George H. W. Bush was asked if it was “weird” to be planning his own memorial. He replied, “You kind of get used to it.” Historians will write about their legacies, but presidents get to plan the personal and traditional parts of their services and the ways they will be remembered.

Death is a sobering reality we all must face. King Solomon, who searched for the meaning of life in pleasure, work, and knowledge, and came up empty, said, “It is better to go to a house of mourning than to go to a house of feasting” (Ecclesiastes 7:2). Negative situations give more perspective than happy times. If we face the reality of death, we can better prepare for what comes after. Verse two adds, “Death is the destiny of everyone; the living should take this to heart.” We should ponder it and plan on it.

Preparation comes from receiving forgiveness of sin from Jesus, who died for us and rose again. Everyone dies because death came when the first man, Adam, disobeyed God, and we have followed his ways. But “everyone who belongs to Christ will be given new life” (1 Corinthians 15:22 nlt).

Reflect & Pray

How have you prepared to face death? How do you want to be remembered?

Thank You, saving God, for promising that in Christ all who die will be made alive again.

Today’s Insights

The Teacher in Ecclesiastes (1:1) offers the bleak perspective that for human beings, who are destined to die, attempting to grasp a firm understanding of life’s meaning is futile, like trying to take hold of the wind (v. 14). Yet the Teacher doesn’t conclude that pursuing wisdom is pointless. Chapter 7 emphasizes that some paths in life are “better” than others (vv. 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 10). Death’s finality (vv. 1-2, 4) clarifies the relative greater value of some things over others—such as a life guided by wisdom instead of foolishness (v. 11). Still, Ecclesiastes contains an unresolved tension: Wisdom has value, yet death erases the permanence of all that’s valuable. The New Testament offers a fuller answer to the questions death raises—insisting that Jesus defeated death’s power through His death and resurrection (1 Corinthians 15:54-57; 2 Timothy 1:10). Through Christ, all of life regains meaning in light of eternity.

 

 

http://www.odb.org

Denison Forum

Denison Forum – Justice Alito temporarily restores access to abortion pill

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Last Friday, a federal appeals court blocked the mailing of mifepristone prescriptions, restricting access to one of the most common means of abortion in the US. On Monday, Justice Samuel Alito temporarily restored broad access to the drug, suspending the lower court’s ruling for one week so the full Supreme Court can consider emergency appeals and decide how to proceed.

Pro-life advocates like me celebrated in 2022 when Roe v. Wade was finally overturned, but we grieve that a majority of Americans still think abortion should be legal in all or most cases. And since the majority of abortions in the US are obtained through medications, if the court’s latest action stands, millions more babies will die.

In our highly secularized, post-Christian culture, it seems like it’s one step forward, two steps back. But there’s an antidote to the discouragement many of us feel.

“Everyone’s obsessed with ‘grandma things’”

I don’t typically read House Beautiful, but their recent headline caught my eye: “Psychologists Explain Why Everyone’s Suddenly Obsessed with ‘Grandma Things.’” Meghan Shouse reports:

From the renewed interest in vintage and antique-inspired design to celebrities openly embracing slower, more traditional pastimes like knitting, gardening, and needlepoint, there’s an unmistakable shift toward a more ‘grandmotherly’ way of living—particularly among young people.

Continue reading Denison Forum – Justice Alito temporarily restores access to abortion pill →

Greg Laurie

Harvest Ministries; Greg Laurie – The Faithful Sower

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 Plant your seed in the morning and keep busy all afternoon, for you don’t know if profit will come from one activity or another—or maybe both. 

—Ecclesiastes 11:6 NLT

Scripture:

Ecclesiastes 11:6 

Here’s something amazing to think about. Saul, who would later become the apostle Paul, was doing the work of God’s kingdom before he was even in it. Remember, Saul was one of the early enemies of the Christian faith. He zealously persecuted believers, which led many to flee their homes and move to distant lands—taking the gospel with them.

Had Saul not been so relentless in his persecution of the church, I think the first-century Christians probably would have been content to stay in their little holy huddle in Jerusalem and never leave town. After all, their situation was almost ideal. God had blessed their evangelism efforts in the city, so there were believers all around. They had no need to leave Jerusalem. But because of Saul’s persecution, Christians were forced to spread out. They took the Good News of Jesus to places where it may not have gone otherwise, or at least not as quickly as it did.

Eventually, of course, Saul stopped persecuting believers and became a believer himself. And I think the person who might have had the greatest influence in bringing about his conversion was Stephen, the church’s first martyr. I believe it could have been Stephen’s bold testimony that threw fuel on Saul’s fire because Saul was under the conviction of the Holy Spirit. Stephen didn’t have a long ministry. He never wrote a book of the New Testament. But if his only convert was Saul of Tarsus, then his ministry was profoundly successful.

The same goes for your Christian ministry. You may not reach millions with the gospel. You may not reach thousands. You may not reach hundreds. But you may be the person whom God uses to reach someone who will, in turn, change the world. Or it may be a child you raised in the way of the Lord who reaches someone else, who talks to someone else, and eventually shares the gospel with someone like Saul. So, here’s what you need to realize: It’s not over until it’s over.

Ecclesiastes 11:6 says, “Plant your seed in the morning and keep busy all afternoon, for you don’t know if profit will come from one activity or another—or maybe both” (NLT). You don’t have to know what your spiritual work will yield. All you have to do is seize every opportunity that’s presented to you.

That’s the takeaway from the story of Saul and Stephen. As believers, we need to be faithful in sowing the seed of the Word of God, because we don’t know where that seed will go—in this life, in the next generation, or in the generation after that.

We sow the seed; God takes it from there.

 

Reflection question: What would sowing the seed of the Word of God look like in your life right now? Discuss this with believers like you on Harvest Discipleship!

 

 

Harvest.org | Greg Laurie

Days of Praise

Days of Praise – Mercy and Truth

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by Henry M. Morris, Ph.D.

“Mercy and truth are met together; righteousness and peace have kissed each other.” (Psalm 85:10)

The words “mercy” (Hebrew checed, also often translated “kindness” or “lovingkindness”) and “truth” (Hebrew emeth) occur more often in Psalms than in any other book. In fact, “mercy” occurs more in Psalms than in all the rest of the Old Testament put together. Though at first these two concepts seem opposed to each other (for how can God’s truth, which abhors sin, be compatible with His mercy, which forgives sin?), nevertheless they are “met together,” for “his salvation,” according to the previous verse, “is nigh them that fear him” (v. 9).

“Mercy and truth” (or “lovingkindness and truth”) are brought together at least 16 times in the Old Testament, including 10 times in the Psalms. And when God’s eternal truth can be united with His loving mercy, both mediated through His holy Word, there is great blessing indeed! “All the paths of the LORD are mercy and truth unto such as keep his covenant and his testimonies” (25:10). “I will worship toward thy holy temple, and praise thy name for thy lovingkindness and for thy truth: for thou hast magnified thy word above all thy name” (138:2). The first time the phrase is found in the Bible is in the prayer of Abraham’s servant thanking God for “his mercy and his truth” (Genesis 24:27).

God’s mercy and truth, of course, are really met together only in Jesus Christ, through whom God can both “be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus” (Romans 3:26). He is “our peace” (Ephesians 2:14) and is “made unto us . . . righteousness” (1 Corinthians 1:30). He is “the truth” (John 14:6) and will show in the ages to come “the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus” (Ephesians 2:7). HMM

 

 

https://www.icr.org/articles/type/6

Joyce Meyer

Joyce Meyer – Obey God Even When It Doesn’t Make Sense

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Adapted from Battlefield of the Mind

But the natural, nonspiritual man does not accept or welcome or admit into his heart the gifts and teachings and revelations of the Spirit of God, for they are folly (meaningless nonsense) to him; and he is incapable of knowing them (of progressively recognizing, understanding, and becoming better acquainted with them) because they are spiritually discerned and estimated and appreciated.

1 Corinthians 2:14 (AMPC)

Many non-Christians don’t really understand the Gospel. This isn’t a new thing that is unique to our day. When Paul wrote to the Corinthians, he pointed out that the Greeks thought it was foolish. And to the natural mind, it is. God sent Jesus, the sinless One, to earth for the express purpose of dying for wicked, sinful people. To unbelievers that is foolish. The natural man cannot understand the power of the Gospel—it can only be “spiritually discerned.”

Continue reading Joyce Meyer – Obey God Even When It Doesn’t Make Sense →

Max Lucado

Max Lucado – The Heart of Jesus 

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The heart of Jesus was pure. Peter traveled with Jesus for three and a half years, and he described Jesus as a “lamb, unblemished and spotless” (1 Peter 1:19). The heart of Jesus was peaceful. The disciples shouted for fear in the storm, but Jesus slept through it. Peter drew his sword to fight the soldiers, but Jesus lifted his hand to heal.

The heart of Jesus was purposeful. He aimed at one goal—to save humanity from its sin. “The Son of man came to seek and to save the lost” (Luke 19:10). His heart was spiritual. He took his instructions from God. It was his habit to go to worship. He memorized scripture. His times of prayer guided him. John 5:19 says, “The Son does whatever the Father does.” The heart of Jesus was spiritual. Let ours be the same.

 

 

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Today in the Word

Today in the Word – Moody Bible Institute – Be a Blessing

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Read Numbers 6

In his groundbreaking book The Blessing, John Trent reveals a startling truth: many people spend their entire lives searching for something they never received as children—a parent’s blessing. The absence of parental blessing creates a wound that affects relationships, self-worth, and spiritual growth for decades. But Trent also discovered this hope: It’s never too late to receive or give a blessing.

Numbers chapter 6 contains perhaps the most beloved blessing in all of Scripture, but it’s surrounded by teachings about consecration. The chapter reveals that God’s blessings flow most powerfully through lives that are consecrated for His purpose.

The chapter begins with instructions for the Nazirite vow—a voluntary commitment to special consecration. Those taking this vow would “abstain from wine and other fermented drink” and “no razor may be used on their head” (vv. 3–5). This wasn’t legalism but love-driven devotion, a desire to draw closer to God through intentional sacrifice.

The Nazirite vow teaches that blessing and consecration are intimately connected. Samson, Samuel, John the Baptist, and the apostle Paul all lived under variations of this vow. God often uses set-apart lives for extraordinary purposes.

But the chapter’s climax comes with the priestly blessing over the Israelites: “The LORD bless you and keep you; the LORD make his face shine on you and be gracious to you; the LORD turn his face toward you and give you peace” (vv. 24–26). Notice the progression: blessing and protection, favor and grace, attention and peace. Each phrase builds upon the previous one, creating a complete picture of God’s comprehensive care. The Lord promises to “put my name on the Israelites, and I will bless them” (v. 27).

Go Deeper

How can you be a conduit of God’s blessing to others? Look for opportunities to speak words of encouragement and divine favor over family, friends, and fellow believers.

Pray with Us

O Lord, how thankful we are for Your blessing, so rich and undeserved, that You grant us love, grace, and peace. Show us today how we can pass on that blessing to someone else.

The LORD bless you and keep you; the LORD make his face shine on you and be gracious to you.Numbers 6:24–25

 

 

https://www.moodybible.org/

Turning Point

Turning Point; David Jeremiah – God Knows

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O Lord, You have searched me and known me. You know my sitting down and my rising up; You understand my thought afar off.
Psalm 139:1-2

Recommended Reading: John 2:24-25

Perhaps the greatest yearning of the human heart is to be known. When someone takes the time to know us deeply, it is a sign of worthiness and respect. And who doesn’t want to be respected and made to feel worthy?

God knows us. He created us in His own image (Genesis 1:26-27)—and a creator always knows the intimate details of what he has created. In one of his most beautiful psalms (Psalm 139), David expressed the profound ways in which God knew him. Beginning with his formation in his mother’s womb, David was known by God in every detail. The reason David praised God for His knowledge was that he knew only God could search his heart and show him what was truly in it (Psalm 139:23-24). David wanted to please God, so he asked God to look at his life and see if there was anything that might not be pleasing to God.

When you need direction, comfort, instruction—when you need anything—ask the One who knows you better than you know yourself.

God knows us all together and cares for us in spite of that knowledge.
J. Charles Stern

 

 

https://www.davidjeremiah.org

Our Daily Bread

Our Daily Bread – No Fear of an Apocalypse

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The revelation from Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show his servants what must soon take place. Revelation 1:1

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In 1859, the largest solar storm in recorded history took place. Known as the Carrington Event, it produced a massive geomagnetic disturbance blamed for disrupting the telegraph system. The website Space.com says, “It’s been conjectured that a storm on the scale of the Carrington event, if it happened today, could cause an internet apocalypse.”

The ominous word apocalypse intrigues us. It’s the Greek title of the book of Revelation (apokalypsis). But the word doesn’t only mean a catastrophe or the end of the world. As the title Revelation implies, it also refers to an unveiling, a revealing.

 

The book opens, “The revelation from Jesus Christ” (Revelation 1:1). Revelation reveals Jesus as the Lamb of God, a term John uses in the book more than twenty-five times to describe Him. Revelation also reveals Christ as one whose “eyes were like blazing fire. His feet were like bronze glowing in a furnace, and his voice was like the sound of rushing waters” (vv. 14-15). When John first saw the Lamb of God, he “fell at his feet as though dead” (v. 17). But this Lamb touched him and said, “Do not be afraid. . . . I am alive for ever and ever!” (v.v 17-18).

Rather than fearing any apocalypse, we can embrace Revelation for showing us the glorified, resurrected Christ. He’s the one we worship.

Reflect & Pray

What are your fears about the future? How does Jesus help you transcend those fears?

 

Heavenly Father, thank You for revealing Your Son Jesus to me.

Learn more about the book of Revelation.

 

Today’s Insights

John’s vision of Jesus in Revelation 1:12-18 reveals Christ’s divine authority, holiness, and power. The imagery of white hair, blazing eyes, and a voice like “rushing waters” (v. 15) emphasizes His purity, wisdom, and majesty. Scholars agree that the seven golden lamp stands (see chs. 2-3) symbolize His presence among the churches, affirming both His nearness and His role as their protector and judge. The “sharp, double-edged sword” from His mouth (1:16) represents the power of His word to convict and save. Christ identifies Himself as “the Living One” (v. 18) who triumphed over death. Believers in Jesus don’t need to fear the future because the risen Christ holds the ultimate authority over life and eternity.

 

 

http://www.odb.org

Denison Forum

Denison Forum – Why I’m reluctant to discuss the latest assassination attempt

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The FBI and prosecutors have released new footage of the man charged with attempting to assassinate President Trump during the White House Correspondents’ Dinner. If you’re like me, however, this news is not how you prefer to begin your week.

It would be more fun to discuss Golden Tempo’s come-from-last-place victory in Saturday’s Kentucky Derby, making Cherie DeVaux the first female trainer to win the most famous horse race in America. If you’re a basketball fan, you might want me to write about yesterday’s Game 7 wins by the 76ers, the Pistons, and the Cavaliers.

I’m with you. I have chosen in recent days not to focus on the latest assassination attempt, beyond the event itself, for two reasons. One is that the story makes me feel helpless. The other is that avoiding it makes me feel empowered.

Continue reading Denison Forum – Why I’m reluctant to discuss the latest assassination attempt →

Greg Laurie

Harvest Ministries; Greg Laurie – Everyone Is Reachable

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 I used to believe that I ought to do everything I could to oppose the very name of Jesus the Nazarene. Indeed, I did just that in Jerusalem. Authorized by the leading priests, I caused many believers there to be sent to prison. And I cast my vote against them when they were condemned to death. Many times I had them punished in the synagogues to get them to curse Jesus. I was so violently opposed to them that I even chased them down in foreign cities. 

—Acts 26:9–11 NLT

Every person in your life who doesn’t know Christ represents a spiritual opportunity for you. If you’re like most people, you probably have some acquaintances who seem as though they would be receptive to the gospel message. It takes no great stretch of the imagination to picture them as fellow believers, worshipping and serving the Lord alongside you. On the other hand, you probably have other acquaintances who seem so far from God—whose lives are so broken and whose priorities are so mixed up—that you’re tempted to write them off as lost causes.

If that’s the case, God’s Word has a message for you: Don’t. Don’t fall into the devil’s trap of believing that certain people are beyond God’s reach. The reality is that no one who draws breath is beyond redemption.

In Acts 26:9–11, the apostle Paul describes one of the most amazing conversions of all time—a conversion so unlikely that even Jesus’ disciples didn’t think it was possible. He’s describing, of course, his own conversion.

“I used to believe that I ought to do everything I could to oppose the very name of Jesus the Nazarene. Indeed, I did just that in Jerusalem. Authorized by the leading priests, I caused many believers there to be sent to prison. And I cast my vote against them when they were condemned to death. Many times I had them punished in the synagogues to get them to curse Jesus. I was so violently opposed to them that I even chased them down in foreign cities” (NLT).

When he was known as Saul of Tarsus, Paul was one of the most radical antagonists of the early church. It was Saul who presided over the death of Stephen, the first martyr of the church who courageously stood up for his faith. It was Saul who went out of his way to hunt down Christians, imprison them, and even destroy them. This man was bent on the eradication of the Christian faith.

Yet God saved him and changed his life beyond recognition. That’s the power of the gospel.

If you know an antagonistic person, someone who seems to go out of their way to make your life miserable, someone who’s always trying to stump you with a hard question, it just may be that they’re closer to the kingdom of God than you realize.

Sometimes the people who attack the most or resist the hardest are under the conviction of the Holy Spirit. Their lashing out is the last struggle of their old self. They may be closer to conversion than you realize.

No one is beyond the reach of God.

Reflection question: How can you reach out to someone who seems unreachable? Discuss this with believers like you on Harvest Discipleship!

 

 

Harvest.org | Greg Laurie

Days of Praise

Days of Praise – The “Shall Nots” of John’s Gospel

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by John D. Morris, Ph.D.

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16)

There are many wonderful promises to the believer listed in the gospel of John. Many of these promises describe things that shall happen, but let us consider seven of these which teach of things that shall not happen to the believer whose trust is in Christ.

Teaching of the indwelling Holy Spirit, Christ said, “Whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life” (4:14).

Similarly, “Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst” (6:35).

Furthermore, He taught, “I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life” (8:12). Our deepest needs are met in Him.

Having once believed, we are placed into His family, and He promises, “I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand” (10:28). In Him, we are utterly secure. Why? “He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life” (5:24).

Consequently, we have no fear of death. “I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: and whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this?” (11:25–26).

As the familiar verse in our text tells us, if we only believe “that he gave his only begotten Son,” we shall “not perish, but have everlasting life.” JDM

 

 

https://www.icr.org/articles/type/6

Joyce Meyer

Joyce Meyer – Love People, Not Things

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But if anyone has this world’s goods…and sees his brother…in need, yet closes his heart of compassion against him, how can the love of God live and remain in him?…Let us not love [merely] in theory or in speech but in deed and in truth.

1 John 3:17-18 (AMPC)

What is confidence? It has been defined as the quality of assurance that leads one to undertake something; the belief that one is able and acceptable; the certainty that causes one to be bold, open, and plain.

The devil begins his assault on personal confidence wherever he can find an opening, especially during the vulnerable years of childhood. His goal is to undermine the person because an individual without confidence will never fulfill the plan of God for his life.

Christ is in you, ready to help with everything you do for Him. Jesus can restore your confidence and give you the strength, power, and boldness to do what you could never do on your own. Be confident—it is part of your spiritual inheritance!

Prayer of the Day: Lord, help me love people the way You do. Open my heart with compassion and teach me to give generously, trusting You to provide all I need, amen.

 

http://www.joycemeyer.org

Max Lucado

Max Lucado – Jesus Wants to Change Your Heart 

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Play

The love of people often increases with performance and decreases with mistakes. Not so with God’s love. He loves you right where you are, but he refuses to leave you that way. And so he cleanses us of filth:  immorality, dishonesty, prejudice, bitterness, greed. He wants us to be just like Jesus. Isn’t that good news? You aren’t stuck with today’s personality. You are tweakable!

Where did we get the idea we cannot change? Why do we say things such as, “It’s my nature to worry,” or “I’ll always be pessimistic; I’m just that way,” or, “I have a bad temper; I can’t help the way I react.” Who says? If our bodies malfunction, we seek help. Shouldn’t we do the same for our hearts? Can’t we seek aid for our sour attitudes? Of course we can! Jesus wants to change our hearts. Can you imagine a better offer?

 

 

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Today in the Word

Today in the Word – Moody Bible Institute – Making Things Right

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Read Numbers 5

A notification popped up on my phone: “Your package was delivered to the wrong address.” My heart sank. But within hours, I received another message: “We sincerely apologize for the error. We’ve located your package and will redeliver it tomorrow, plus we’re crediting your account for the inconvenience.” The company’s response transformed my frustration into appreciation.

Numbers chapter 5 reveals God’s heart for making things right. This wasn’t just about punishment—it was about restoration, reconciliation, and maintaining the purity of relationships among God’s people. The chapter opens with God’s instruction to Moses to send away anyone who was ceremonially unclean (v. 2), ensuring the community’s health and holiness.

But the heart of the chapter focuses on restitution for wrongs. God establishes a clear principle: “Any man or woman who wrongs another in any way and so is unfaithful to the LORD is guilty and must confess the sin they have committed. They must make full restitution for the wrong they have done, add a fifth of the value to it and give it all to the person they have wronged” (vv. 6–7). Notice the progression: recognition of guilt, confession of sin, and restitution, plus 20 percent additional compensation, demonstrating genuine repentance through generous restoration.

The chapter then addresses the complex issue of marital suspicion (vv. 11–31). While this ancient practice seems foreign to us, it reveals God’s concern for integrity, justice, and the protection of innocent parties when accusations threaten to destroy relationships. God cares deeply about the integrity of His people’s relationships—with Him and with each other. True repentance involves more than words; concrete action can help restore what was broken.

Go Deeper

Have you ever experienced a wrong made right? Is there someone you have personally wronged? How can you make things right?

Pray with Us

God, we come to You today with repentant hearts. We confess each time we have disobeyed You. Give us the courage to make things right with those we have wronged.

Whoever conceals their sins does not prosper, but the one who confesses and renounces them finds mercy.Proverbs 28:13

 

 

https://www.moodybible.org/

Today in the Word

Today in the Word – Moody Bible Institute – Set Apart

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Read Numbers 3–4

During a hospital medical emergency, there’s a moment when trained professionals spring into action. Everyone has a specific role. Lives depend on each person knowing their assignment and executing it with precision. In critical moments, being “set apart” for a specific function isn’t a limitation—it’s a lifeline.

Numbers chapters 3–4 reveal God’s similar approach to sacred service. After organizing the tribes, God now designates the Levites for special consecration and specific duties. This wasn’t arbitrary assignment—it was divine calling. “The Levites are mine, for all the firstborn are mine” (3:13). God claimed the Levites as His own in place of every firstborn, making them living reminders of their deliverance from Egyptian bondage.

The detailed assignments that follow show God’s precision in sacred service. The Gershonites handled “the tabernacle and tent, its coverings, the curtain at the entrance to the tent of meeting” (3:25). The Kohathites were entrusted with “the care of the sanctuary” (3:28), including the ark, table, lampstand, and altars. The Merarites were responsible for “the frames of the tabernacle, its crossbars, posts, bases, all its equipment” (3:36).

Chapter 4 provides specific instructions for transporting sacred items. The Kohathites couldn’t even look at the holy objects “even for a moment, or they will die” (4:20). What might seem like harsh restriction to us was actually protective reverence. God was teaching His people that proximity to the sacred requires careful preparation and approach. Serving God requires intentionality, respect, and proper heart preparation. Don’t underestimate the significance of being chosen by God for His kingdom work.

Go Deeper

Every believer has been redeemed and consecrated for divine service (Rom. 12:1–2). How should we prepare spiritually before engaging in ministry or worship?

Pray with Us

Our Father, just as the Israelites followed Your detailed instructions for sacred duties, You want us to prepare our hearts for service. Shape us. Mold us. Transform us daily into Your image.

Offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship.Romans 12:1

 

 

https://www.moodybible.org/

Our Daily Bread

Our Daily Bread – Love That Goes the Distance

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Teach [my commands] to your children. Deuteronomy 11:19

Today’s Scripture

Deuteronomy 11:13-21

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“We wave until they’re out of sight. It’s a way of showing that we love them.” Those words from my mother when I was a boy explained a habit she and my father had when a family member left our home after a visit. Mom and Dad stood outside and waved to the ones leaving until they disappeared in the distance. Sometimes they stood there for a long time, but that didn’t matter. When I left home myself, I understood why.

Seeing them waving in the rearview mirror touched my heart, and I felt loved and cared for. I still say goodbye to our family visitors that way to show love for them. It’s a habit I hope my children will continue.

Another way we can express love for our families is to communicate God’s love shared in Scripture. As the Israelites prepared to cross the Jordan into the promised land, God taught them with these instructions for life: “Fix these words of mine in your hearts and minds. . . . Teach them to your children, talking about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up” (Deuteronomy 11:18-19).

These are words that would one day find fulfillment in the perfect love of Jesus, who promised, “I am with you always” (Matthew 28:20). As we share His truth and kindness, we can trust that His love is able to overcome every distance.

Reflect & Pray

Whom can you encourage with God’s wisdom and truth today? In what ways will you show them His love?

Please help me, dear Father, to share Your love and truth with others today so they may believe and walk with You always.

Today’s Insights

Deuteronomy derives from the Greek word deuteronomion, which means “second law.” Most of the book of Deuteronomy repeats the law of Moses given to Israel on Mount Sinai forty years earlier. The generation that had agreed to that law (Exodus 24:7) decades earlier, however, had died in the wilderness. Now, the law needed to be rehearsed for a new generation preparing to enter the promised land. The law instructed them not only how to relate to God but also to one another. Today, as we study the Scriptures, we also learn how to share His love and truth with others.

 

http://www.odb.org

Days of Praise

Days of Praise – God Is Love

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by Henry M. Morris III, D.Min.

“And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love.” (1 John 4:16)

It is said that the most quoted verse in all the Bible is the passage in John 3:16: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” Surely that is a magnificent testimony to the love God has for us, and without it none of us would know God. “We love him, because he first loved us” (1 John 4:19).

But God “loved righteousness, and hated iniquity” (Hebrews 1:9). How is it that God “commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8)? “Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins” (1 John 4:10).

Human love is usually reciprocal. That is, we love if and when we are loved in return. Yet, those of us who are twice-born are commanded to love each other, and the godly husband is expected to love his wife like the Lord Jesus unilaterally loved the church. But that kind of love is not normal—it is God’s love in us. “Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God” (1 John 4:7).

The English word “love” in its various forms appears over 700 times in the Bible. The vast majority of those references do not attempt to describe God’s love. They focus either on our responsibility to “love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might” (Deuteronomy 6:5) or “to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God” (Micah 6:8).

Evidently, we experience God’s love when we are saved and are under obligation to show it as we “work out [our] own salvation with fear and trembling” (Philippians 2:12). HMM III

 

 

https://www.icr.org/articles/type/6

Joyce Meyer

Joyce Meyer – Think Right and Step into Your Destiny

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We were buried therefore with Him by the baptism into death, so that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glorious [power] of the Father, so we too might [habitually] live and behave in newness of life.

Romans 6:4 (AMPC)

You will never reach your destiny by thinking negative thoughts. When you first wake up in the morning, start saying, “I love my life. It is wonderful. I thank God for everything He has given me.”

You will do yourself a favor if you start thinking right thoughts so that you will also choose right actions. Sowing the right actions into your day will form new habits. As you begin to operate in those new habits, you will change in your character. And as your character changes, you will move into the destiny that God has for you. By God’s power you can live in newness of life.

Prayer of the Day: Lord, help me choose positive, faith-filled thoughts each day. Renew my mind, shape my actions, and guide me into the life and destiny You have prepared for me.

 

http://www.joycemeyer.org

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