Daily Archives: March 2, 2026

Turning Point

Turning Point; David Jeremiah – The Bible Habit

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Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed in Him, “If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”
John 8:31-32

Recommended Reading: John 8:31-36

Ovid said, “Nothing is stronger than habit.” Habits are those patterns of daily behavior that make us who we are. For the believer the habit of daily Bible reading and prayer is the reservoir of our spiritual vitality. George Müller said, “The vigor of our spiritual life will be in exact proportion to the place held by the Bible in our life and thoughts.”

Have the pressures of life disrupted this habit in your life? Sometimes Christians get out of the habit of reading and studying the Scriptures. They miss a day, then another. Eventually Satan uses this to silently steal away their desire for the Word. Don’t allow that to happen. What we do occasionally may inspire us, but what we do every day shapes us. We must abide in His Word!

If you’ve missed your Bible time recently, start back. Today!

God’s Word is the instrument by which God’s Spirit transforms the Christian.
Robert M. Horn

 

 

https://www.davidjeremiah.org

Our Daily Bread

Our Daily Bread – Refreshing Generosity

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A generous person will prosper; whoever refreshes others will be refreshed. Proverbs 11:25

Today’s Scripture

Proverbs 11:24-31

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Today’s Devotional

An auditorium full of medical students at Albert Einstein College of Medicine listened intently as ninety-year-old Ruth Gottesman spoke. As she concluded, Ruth announced—to the students’ gasps, cheers, and pandemonium—that she was donating $1 billion so they could finish their education tuition free. This is the largest donation ever given to a medical school. Yet in the interviews that followed, you would have thought that Gottesman was the one receiving the gift. She expressed joy, delight, and honor to be able to give her money away.

Proverbs tells us that this is how generosity works. The one who “gives freely,” far from being left diminished or bereft, finds blessings they hadn’t anticipated (11:24). When we open our hands to others, we’re left with something more—not less. “Whoever refreshes,” Scripture says, “will be refreshed” (v. 25). We’re often tempted to tightly grip whatever we have, fearful that we’ll be taken advantage of or left with nothing. God’s economy works differently, however. Jesus went a step further, stating that it’s “more blessed to give than to receive” (Acts 20:35).

We can be generous with our lives and our resources, offering what we have to others in need. And then, in return we’ll find that we end up receiving too. There’s plenty for everyone in God’s kingdom.

Reflect & Pray

How has giving to others blessed you? Where might God be asking you to be more generous?

 

Dear God, please help me to be generous like You, and trust that I’ll have all I need.

For further study, read The Fool’s Greed and God’s Generosity.

 

http://www.odb.org

Denison Forum

Denison Forum – A biblical reflection on the death of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei

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As “Operation Epic Fury” continues, Iran and its proxies are expanding their response as they fire missiles at Israel and the Arab states. The US Central Command announced yesterday that three US service members have been killed in the conflict and at least five others seriously wounded. However, it stated that it remains steadfast in its “relentless campaign to defend the American people by eliminating threats from the Iranian regime.”

At the top of this threat list was Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. When news broke Saturday that he had been killed, one person in Tehran responded: “I think the Middle East has become a better place. Even [the] world has become a better place now.” A video shows teenagers at a school dancing and chanting over the strikes by US and Israeli forces; one says, “I love Trump.” An Iranian lawyer living in Los Angeles said, “It’s not an invasion, it’s a liberation. My support is behind this 100 percent.”

While large crowds in cities across Iran celebrated the news of Khamenei’s death, Iranian state TV showed mourners in Tehran packed into a square, dressed in black, with many of them weeping. The Iranian government has declared forty days of mourning and seven days of public holidays across the nation to commemorate Khamenei’s death.

Continue reading Denison Forum – A biblical reflection on the death of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei →

Greg Laurie

Harvest Ministries; Greg Laurie – An Appointment to Keep

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 Then the LORD God called to the man, ‘Where are you?’ 

—Genesis 3:9

Scripture:

Genesis 39 

Over the next two weeks, we’re going to look at the lives of several Old Testament characters. And we’re going to discover that their experiences are still relevant and applicable to us today. We’re going to start at the beginning with Adam and Eve.

Adam and Eve enjoyed a unique relationship with God. Only they could say they knew Him before. That is, before they sinned and altered the course of human history. Before their wrongdoing created a gulf between God and humanity that could be bridged only by the sacrificial death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Before their fall, however, Adam and Eve enjoyed a remarkable closeness with God. In fact, they had a standing appointment with Him. Genesis 3:8 says, “When the cool evening breezes were blowing, the man and his wife heard the LORD God walking about in the garden” (NLT). God strolled through the paradise He created. He visited with Adam and Eve. Imagine their excitement and anticipation as they waited for God’s arrival in the evening.

One day Adam and Eve missed that appointment. They had disobeyed Him and eaten from the forbidden tree in the garden. Their shame and guilt kept them from their time with the Lord. So, God called out, “Where are you?” (Genesis 3:9 NLT).

I wonder if the Lord would say something similar to people today. “Where are you? I’ve been looking for you. I want to speak to you. I want you to walk with Me, and I want to walk with you.”

The Christian life is often referred to as a walk—and for good reason. Amos 3:3 says, “Can two people walk together without agreeing on the direction?” (NLT). The idea is that when two people walk together, they share a common purpose, a connection, a commitment to one another. You must keep an appointment to walk with someone.

So, when God walks with us, He’s keeping an appointment. He wants to meet with us on a regular basis. The question is: How often do we keep that appointment?

How many times each day does God make Himself available to speak to us, only to be shut out of our appointment book? Imagine Him saying, “I’ve wanted to talk to you for a long time, but you’re too busy. You won’t make time for Me. You won’t open the Word. You rarely pray. And when you do, it’s one-sided. You won’t listen to Me. You have an appointment with Me. Why don’t you keep it?”

Obviously, there is no “good” answer to that question. Whatever feeble excuses we may try to offer pale in comparison to the opportunity to spend one-on-one time with the all-knowing, all-powerful Creator of the universe who loves us, wants only the best for us, and knows exactly how we might experience that best.

Is there any appointment worth keeping more than the one with Him?

Reflection Question: How can you keep a regular appointment with God? Discuss this with believers like you on Harvest Discipleship!

 

 

Harvest.org | Greg Laurie

Days of Praise

Days of Praise – The Unperfect Substance

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by Henry M. Morris, Ph.D.

Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect; and in thy book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them.” (Psalm 139:16)

This is an amazing verse, testifying as it does to the omniscient fore-planning of our Creator for each human being. Each person has been separately planned by God before he or she was ever conceived; His eyes oversaw our “unperfect [not imperfect, but unfinished] substance”—that is, literally, our embryo—throughout its entire development. Not only all its “members” but also all its “days” (the literal implication of “in continuance”) had been “written” in God’s book long ago.

While modern evolutionists argue that a fetus is not yet a real person and so may be casually aborted if the mother so chooses, both the Bible and science show that a growing child in the womb is a true human being. Instruments called fetoscopes have been able to trace every stage of embryonic development, showing that each is distinctively human, never passing through any nonhuman evolutionary stages, which the evolutionists’ theory of recapitulation implies.

The baby is completely human from the moment of conception, with all its future days already well known in the mind of God, “when as yet there was none of them,” as our text points out.

But that is not all. All those who are saved (or, like the innocents who die before birth, “safe” in Christ) and whose names, therefore, are “written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world” (Revelation 13:8) are also predestined “to be conformed to the image of his Son” in the ages to come (Romans 8:29). HMM

 

 

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

Joyce Meyer

Joyce Meyer – Be Purposeful in What You Say

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Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and they who indulge in it shall eat the fruit of it [for death or life].

Proverbs 18:21 (AMPC)

If we truly believe our words are filled with life or death, why don’t we choose what we say more carefully? There is a time to talk and a time to keep silent. Sometimes the best thing we can say is nothing. When we do say something, it is wise to be purposeful in what we say.

I firmly believe if we do what we can do, God will do what we cannot do. We can control what comes out of our mouths with the help of the Holy Spirit and by applying principles of discipline. Even when we talk about our problems or the things that are bothering us, we can talk about them in a positive and hopeful way.

One time I was having some back problems, and my daughter, Sandy, called to see how my back was. I told her it was still hurting, but I was thankful it wasn’t as bad as it could have been. I said, “I am sleeping well, and that is a positive thing.” In other words, I didn’t deny the problem, but I made an effort to have a positive outlook. I was determined to look at what I do have and not just at what I don’t have. I believed in time the backache would be taken care of, and I believed that until then, God would give me the strength to do what I needed to do.

If you will make a decision that you are going to say as little as possible about your problems and disappointments in life, they won’t dominate your thoughts and your mood. And if you talk as much as possible about your blessings and hopeful expectations, your frame of mind will match them. Be sure each day is filled with words that fuel joy, not anger, depression, bitterness, and fear. Talk yourself into a better mood! Find something positive to say in every situation.

Prayer of the Day: Lord, help me choose my words wisely today. Guide my mouth by Your Spirit so I speak life, hope, and gratitude instead of fear, negativity, or discouragement, amen.

 

http://www.joycemeyer.org

Max Lucado

Max Lucado – The Gifts of the Cross 

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Have you ever wondered why God gives us so much? We could exist on far less. God could have left the world flat and gray—we wouldn’t have known the difference—but he didn’t. Why give the flower a fragrance? Why give food its taste? Jesus asked, “If you hardhearted, sinful men know how to give good gifts to your children, won’t your Father in heaven even more certainly give good gifts to those who ask him for them?” (Matthew 7:11).

Every gift reveals God’s love, but no gift reveals his love more than the gifts of the cross. They came, not wrapped in paper, but in passion.  Not covered with ribbons, but sprinkled with blood. The gifts of the cross!  Have you taken time to open these gifts? If you do, perhaps you will hear him whisper, “I did it just for you.”

 

 

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Today in the Word

Today in the Word – Moody Bible Institute – Greetings from John

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Read Revelation 1:4–8

The author of Revelation, John, was one of the original twelve disciples called by Jesus. John and his brother James, along with Peter and Andrew, were fishermen whom Jesus invited to follow Him—“I will send you out to fish for people” (Matt. 4:18–22). John became “the disciple whom Jesus loved” (John 21:20) and wrote a Gospel as well as three epistles.

John had been walking with Jesus for nearly a lifetime by the time he wrote Revelation (v. 4). That’s why there is great spiritual depth even in his simple greeting in today’s reading. He offers “grace and peace” from the entire Trinity: God the Father, God the Holy Spirit (v. 4), and God the Son (v. 5). As the NIV note attests, “seven spirits” can be rendered “sevenfold Spirit,” which makes more sense. The number seven, here and throughout the book—it appears 54 times!—represents divine perfection.

The focus is on God the Son, Jesus Christ. He is the “faithful witness” who died to save us, the “firstborn from among the dead” who conquered death and rose again (Col. 1:18), and the sovereign “ruler of the kings of the earth.” John cannot help breaking into a doxology of praise here for Christ’s love and redemptive sacrifice and for how He has made us “to be a kingdom and priests” (vv. 5–6; Ex. 19:6; 1 Peter 2:9). Worship will be a major theme in this book.

The key theme and message, though, is Christ’s Second Coming (vv. 7–8). Christ is the telos or purpose of history, the “hinge” of God’s entire plan of redemption. The prophecies of Revelation are continuous with Old Testament prophecies: Jesus will return “with the clouds of heaven” (Dan. 7:13; 1 Thess. 4:16–17). “They will mourn for him” (Zech. 12:10; Matt. 24:30), the One they had pierced (Isa. 53:5).

Go Deeper

What has been your previous experience with the book of Revelation? What did you learn today that gives this study context?

Pray with Us

God, we thank You for the inspired Word that tells us about who You are. Open our eyes to see that You are worthy to be praised! We worship You.

Grace and peace to you from him who is, and who was, and who is to come.Revelation 1:4

 

 

https://www.moodybible.org/