Daily Archives: February 28, 2026

Turning Point

Turning Point; David Jeremiah – The Greatest of These Is Love: Infinite Love

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And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.
John 1:14

Recommended Reading: John 1:10-14

How do humans like us express the nature of God’s infinite love? Charles Wesley, the Methodist hymnwriter, pondered this as he studied John 1:14. From that meditation, he wrote a hymn that described God’s love as “divine” and “excelling” over every form of love imaginable. He spoke of “Joy of Heaven to Earth come down.” In other words, this great love of God has a name—Jesus! Wesley said, “Jesus, thou art all compassion, pure, unbounded love thou art.”

Divine! Excelling! Joy! All compassion! Pure! Unbounded! That’s Jesus!

Whenever you are down and out, think of how much God loves you. Let your mind be comforted by the Bible verses that speak of His love. Use your lips to thank Him. And you might even look up Wesley’s old hymn and sing it for yourself: “Love Divine, All Loves Excelling.”

The Lord is full of mercy and compassion, slow to anger, long-suffering, and of great kindness…. God is love; love in Himself; love towards a world of sinners. He wept over the bloody city, He lamented and mourned for Scribes and Pharisees, He prayed for His very murderers.
Charles Wesley

 

 

https://www.davidjeremiah.org

Our Daily Bread

Our Daily Bread – Faith of Friends

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They made an opening in the roof above Jesus . . . and then lowered the mat the man was lying on. Mark 2:4

Today’s Scripture

Mark 2:1-5

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Today’s Devotional

Attending a conference, a woman noticed that her friend—the day’s presenter—didn’t look well. She approached the presenter, who replied, “I’m going to get through this presentation. If I don’t feel better in the morning, I’ll go to the doctor.” The woman didn’t forget about the presenter’s promise. This friend had to leave early, but she asked another friend to check on the presenter.

In the morning, there was a knock at the presenter’s hotel door. The second friend had come to drive her to the hospital. There was no backing out, and—fortunately—she was given life-saving treatments in time. The persistence of friends had evidently helped to save her life.

Persistent friends can be a blessing, just like the men in Mark 2. They’d apparently heard about the healing power of Jesus and that He’d come to their town (v. 1). The people clambered to Christ, and there was “no room left” for the men to get their paralyzed friend to Him (v. 2). They didn’t let a crowd stop them from getting their friend the help he needed, however: “They made an opening in the roof above Jesus by digging through it and then lowered . . . the man” (v. 4) to Christ who healed him (vv. 11-12).

Let’s bring the needs of others to Jesus through persistent prayer. And as He provides what we need, let’s strive to help and love them well.

Reflect & Pray

How has the faith and persistence of friends helped you? What can you do to help someone today?

Healing God, thank You for persistent and faith-filled friends. Please help me to persistently lift others to You.

Consider how Jesus encouraged persistent prayer.

Today’s Insights

The men who brought the paralytic man to Jesus for healing were persistent and had gone to a lot of work—carrying him, digging up the roof tiles, and lowering him into the room where Christ was found. So imagine their reaction when Jesus instead granted him forgiveness of sins (Mark 2:1-5). After His authority to forgive sins was questioned by the religious leaders (vv. 6-7), He used the verifiable act of healing the man as proof of the unseen and impossible-to-verify authority to forgive sins (vv. 8-12).

As the men in Mark 2 had confidence in Christ’s ability to heal, we too can have confidence that when we come to God in prayer—with the needs of others or our own needs—He’ll hear us and provide what we need.

 

http://www.odb.org

Denison Forum

Denison Forum – Betting on suffering: The moral crisis of prediction markets

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Casting lots over a dying man’s garments was considered a scandal in my biblical upbringing. Today, we call it a prediction market—and Wall Street calls it innovation.

The rapid growth and expansion of prediction markets have flooded the public marketplace, making it feel as if all of this is supposed to be business as usual, another opportunity to grow your financial portfolio like day trading or other, edgier ways to expand investment opportunities. We’re not yet two months into the new year, and major prediction market companies like Polymarket and Kalshi have dominated the headlines.

Polymarket opened up a pop-up “free grocery store” in New York’s Greenwich Village this past week, following a similar publicity stunt from fellow prediction market rival, Kalshi, which offered patrons $50 groceries in early February. Providing free/discounted food appears, on its face, to benefit a community, but there is a dark reality behind these goodwill efforts.

Many have heard of these companies, but few understand how they actually work. The mechanics are simple. A prediction market poses a question with a defined outcome, often binary, like “Will Candidate X win?” Traders buy shares that pay $1 if the answer is yes and $0 if it’s no. If those shares trade at $0.65, the market is implying roughly a 65% chance of a yes outcome.

As people trade, buying when they think the chance is higher and selling when they think it’s lower, the price updates in real time. The idea is that anyone who has a better read (new information, sharper analysis, faster synthesis) can profit by pushing the price toward a more accurate forecast. In that sense, the market becomes a living estimate shaped by incentives rather than expert judgment.

Continue reading Denison Forum – Betting on suffering: The moral crisis of prediction markets →

Greg Laurie

Harvest Ministries; Greg Laurie – When One Door Closes

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 So Elijah did as the LORD told him and camped beside Kerith Brook, east of the Jordan. The ravens brought him bread and meat each morning and evening, and he drank from the brook. But after a while the brook dried up, for there was no rainfall anywhere in the land. 

—1 Kings 17:5–7

Scripture:

1 Kings 17:5-7 

Elijah proclaimed to King Ahab that a drought would strike the land and would continue for years until he, Elijah, called an end to it—at the Lord’s direction, of course. After Elijah made his proclamation, the Lord gave him these instructions: “Go to the east and hide by Kerith Brook, near where it enters the Jordan River. Drink from the brook and eat what the ravens bring you, for I have commanded them to bring you food” (1 Kings 17:3–4 NLT).

That was quite a turnaround. One day Elijah was boldly issuing a proclamation to a king; the next day he was hiding out by a brook. Elijah “did as the LORD told him” (verse 5 NLT), but he must have been a little bewildered.

Elijah made do for a while. “The ravens brought him bread and meat each morning and evening, and he drank from the brook. But after a while the brook dried up, for there was no rainfall anywhere in the land” (verses 6–7 NLT).

The brook dried up. Those are ominous words for someone whose survival seemed to depend on the brook. Elijah is certainly not the only Bible character to face such a defining—and potentially defeating—moment. Abraham and Sarah’s “brook dried up” when they found themselves childless in old age. Joseph’s “brook dried up” when he was sold into slavery by his brothers. Moses’ “brook dried up” when he killed an Egyptian official and became a fugitive. The apostle Peter’s “brook dried up” when he denied knowing Jesus three times. The disciples’ “brook dried up” when Jesus cried out, “It is finished,” and gave up His life on the cross.

Maybe you’ve had a brook dry up in your life as well. Maybe one day your partner said, “I’m leaving. I don’t want to be with you anymore.” And just like that, your relationship was over.

Maybe you got a call from the place you’ve worked for twenty years: “Sorry, we’re downsizing.” And just like that, you’re unemployed. Your brook dried up.

But what seems like the end of the world may, in fact, be a new beginning. When God closes one door, He opens another. Elijah was about to discover this fact.

God was getting him ready, step by step, challenge by challenge. Big things were coming. The next phase was about to start. It’s the same with you. If you’ve been told to head for the hills and be fed by birds, so to speak, if your brook has dried up, if a door has closed in your life, don’t think God is done with you. Just trust Him. He may be getting you ready for phase two. He may be whipping you into shape for something beyond your wildest dreams.

As the apostle Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 2:9, “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has imagined what God has prepared for those who love him” (NLT).

Reflection Question: How can you keep a proper perspective when a door closes in your life? Discuss this with believers like you on Harvest Discipleship!

 

 

Harvest.org | Greg Laurie

Days of Praise

Days of Praise – Rejection at Home

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by Henry M. Morris, Ph.D.

“But Jesus, said unto them, A prophet is not without honour, but in his own country, and among his own kin, and in his own house.” (Mark 6:4)

A town will give great honor to a “hometown boy” if he makes good in athletics or the entertainment world. But if he becomes known as an influential Christian, the hometown folks usually are embarrassed about it.

Jesus Himself experienced this. He grew up in Nazareth, and there He had “increased in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and man” (Luke 2:52). When He returned to Nazareth, however, after the early days of His ministry, “as his custom was, he went into the synagogue on the sabbath day, and stood up for to read” (4:16). He was already recognized there as proficient in the Scriptures, and they had heard tales about His miracles, so the invitation to speak was natural, but there were certain mumbles. “Is not this the carpenter’s son?” they asked. “Whence then hath this man all these things?” (Matthew 13:55–56).

At first, “all bare him witness, and wondered at the gracious words which proceeded out of his mouth” (Luke 4:22). But then, as He applied a key prophecy to Himself and rebuked them for their unbelief, they “were filled with wrath” and tried to slay Him (4:28–29). “Neither did his brethren believe in him” (John 7:5), and only His mother was with Him when He was crucified (19:25). As David had written prophetically, “I am become a stranger unto my brethren . . . . For the zeal of thine house hath eaten me up” (Psalm 69:8–9).

Perhaps those Christians who have been rejected by their family and former friends can identify with Jesus when He said, “For whosoever shall do the will of God, the same is my brother, and my sister, and mother” (Mark 3:35). We still have a family—an eternal one! HMM

 

 

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

Joyce Meyer

Joyce Meyer – Mindful of God’s Unfailing Love

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Test me, Lord, and try me, examine my heart and my mind; for I have always been mindful of your unfailing love and have lived in reliance on your faithfulness.

Psalm 26:2-3 (NIV)

I think a person would need a high level of confidence in order to invite God to examine their heart and mind. I’m not talking about confidence in their own goodness, but confidence in God’s love, mercy, longsuffering, and forgiveness. David had no fear of inviting God to examine him, because he knew that even if God found flaws in him, he could be forgiven. He wanted to know if there was anything in his life that was offensive to God. He wasn’t afraid to face his weaknesses, and we should not be either.

Being honest about where we are is the only way to get to where we want to be. If we hide from our sins or make excuses for them, we can never be free of them. Anything we run from will chase us. But if we confront things, we can defeat them in God’s strength.

The apostle James teaches us to confess our faults to one another so we can be healed (James 5:16). Things hidden in darkness always threaten us, but when they are brought into the open, they are exposed and no longer have control over us. Our secrets make us sick, but the truth makes us free (John 8:32). You can talk to God about anything—after all, He already knows all about it. God is not shocked or surprised by anything you tell Him. He loves you and knew all about you before you ever knew Him, so, like David, let’s rely on His faithfulness and be mindful of His unfailing love.

Prayer of the Day: Father, I invite You to examine my heart and mind because I trust Your unfailing love and mercy. Thank You for Your amazing goodness.

 

http://www.joycemeyer.org

Today in the Word

Today in the Word – Moody Bible Institute – Conclusion: Stay Equipped

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Read 2 Timothy 3:14–17

The end of every journey provides a moment for reflection. You’ve arrived at your destination. If you’ve been on this two-month journey with us, I encourage you to take a moment and consider what you’ve learned. We have touched almost every book of the Old Testament and every book of the New Testament.

We’ve seen God create the world and work to redeem it. We’ve seen Him make promises and fulfill them. We’ve seen the tragedy of sin in people’s lives, but we’ve also seen the power of the gospel to transform those lives. We’ve seen the faithless receive judgment, and the faithful a reward. Finally, we’ve seen the hope of redemption: Christ will return!

As we close this series it’s good to remember that we’ve just scratched the surface. In his first letter to Timothy, Paul reminds his spiritual son to remain faithful by not leaving the things he has learned and had committed himself to (v. 14). He trusted the Scriptures, and Paul wants him to continue to do that. Paul reminds him that the Scriptures are “God-breathed” (v. 16), meaning that God is their source. Yes, He used people to write the words, but He made sure they wrote what He wanted them to write.

As a result, Scripture is of ultimate usefulness. Any time invested in studying God’s Word will equip the believer to teach what it says. Knowing the Bible gives us confidence to speak the truth, to challenge, and correct. It teaches us how to live righteously. Christians need to be able to do these things for others and for themselves. Attention to the Scriptures equips us. So, don’t stop now. Lean into your study of the Word of God and continue to equip yourself for every good work!

Go Deeper

How will you continue in God’s Word this year? Do you have a plan? Sign up for Today in the Word’s daily email or download the app and study the Scripture daily all year. Extended Reading:

2 Timothy 3

Pray with Us

As we conclude our overview of the Bible, may we stay in the Word, study it more deeply every day, open our hearts to the ministry of the Holy Spirit, and grow in love for our Lord and Savior. Amen!

All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness.2 Timothy 3:16

 

 

https://www.moodybible.org/