Daily Archives: March 15, 2026

Today in the Word

Today in the Word – Moody Bible Institute – Woman and Dragon

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Read Revelation 12

Consistency is a good principle to follow when interpreting symbolic stories in the Bible. In Jesus’s Parable of the Sower, the “seed” is the “message of the kingdom” even when the results differ (Matt. 13:1–23). In Ezekiel’s allegory of an abandoned baby, the girl (later woman) is Jerusalem or Judah no matter her age, circumstances, or actions (Ezekiel 16).

Similarly, it’s probably best to consistently identify each of the individual characters in Revelation 12 in collective terms (vv. 1–6). Most interpreters agree that the woman is Israel, the symbolism is similar to Joseph’s dreams in Genesis 37, and the twelve stars represent the twelve tribes. Her child is often identified as Christ, given the Messianic reference to Psalm 2:9. But if we’re consistent, the child should also be a group and is better interpreted as the body of Christ in union with Him. That accounts for both the Messianic reference and for the “snatching up” to heaven, that is, the Rapture of the church (1 Thess. 4:17). The dragon is similarly to be interpreted not individually as Satan, but collectively as Satan and his demonic allies and all enemies of God.

These events are followed by war in heaven (vv. 7–9). Michael, seen in Scripture as a special protector of Israel (Dan. 12:1), leads the heavenly angels against the fallen ones and defeats them. The kingdom of God has now arrived in force (vv. 10–12), as previously announced (Rev. 11:15). The dragon, confined to earth and knowing that his time is short, is enraged and makes war against Israel, but Israel is divinely protected, just as it was during the Exodus (vv. 13–17). The forces of evil then attack the “rest of her offspring,” possibly meaning Jews worldwide or new Christian believers.

Go Deeper

Rather than react with fear, Paul wrote that we’re to encourage one another with truths about the end times (1 Thess. 4:18). How can you do so more consistently and passionately?

Pray with Us

God, You are the righteous Judge, and we place our hope in You. As Your plan unfolds, give us eyes to see Your divine protection and love. We trust You to accomplish Your plans.

Then war broke out in heaven.Revelation 12:7

 

 

https://www.moodybible.org/

Our Daily Bread

Our Daily Bread – Being a Light for Christ

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You are the light of the world. Matthew 5:14

Today’s Scripture

Matthew 5:13-16

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Today’s Devotion

When schools around the globe sent their students home for health and safety during the coronavirus pandemic, their buildings and stadiums stood empty. While acknowledging many were experiencing greater afflictions from the virus, teachers sought ways to show their students they missed them and to encourage them to press on through a difficult time. Many schools initiated what they called the “Be the Light” challenge, in which they burned the empty stadium’s lights each night.

During His earthly life, Jesus issued His own kind of “be the light” challenge, saying that we who follow Him are to “let [our] light shine before others” (Matthew 5:16). His charge had a loftier goal than encouragement or moral support; instead, our willingness to reveal the light He’s put in us shows the watching world who God is. The way we live our lives, in both word and deed, reveals the hope Jesus gives us, making it visible to all those around us, like a lamp on a stand.

Jesus calls us “the light of the world” and challenges us to illuminate the paths of others with His light radiating through us when they’re walking a dark road. For those who don’t yet know the hope Jesus offers, sharing His light through the way we live can point them toward God as the source of all hope.

Reflect & Pray

In whom do you see the light of Jesus? How can you cast His light into the lives of others?

 

Dear Jesus, thank You for giving me hope. Use me, please, to show Your light in this world through the way I live.

 

Today’s Insights

In Matthew 4:16, Jesus quotes from the Old Testament (Isaiah 9:2) to point to Himself as the fulfillment of prophecy: “The people living in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned.” He’s “the true light that gives light to everyone” (John 1:9; see 8:12; 9:5). Now that He’s no longer in the world, those who believe in Him “are the light of the world” (Matthew 5:14). As “children of the light” (1 Thessalonians 5:5), we’re called to shine our light into a dark world that desperately needs hope. We do this through the Holy Spirit, who guides and empowers us to “walk by the Spirit” (Galatians 5:16) instead of in the wicked ways of the world. He grows in us the fruit of the Spirit (vv. 22-23) that draws others to God, the source of our hope.

 

http://www.odb.org

Days of Praise

Days of Praise – God’s Tear Bottle

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by Henry M. Morris, Ph.D.

“Thou tellest my wanderings: put thou my tears into thy bottle: are they not in thy book?” (Psalm 56:8)

This is a remarkable insight into the tender heart of our heavenly Father. He has a tear bottle—perhaps a tear bottle for each of His wandering children.

Ancient tear bottles (or wineskins) have actually been excavated by archaeologists in Israel. These vessels were used to catch and preserve the owner’s tears during times of grief or extreme pressure. This psalm was actually written by David when he was being pursued by Saul on one side and surrounded by Philistines in the city of Goliath on the other. David apparently not only had his own tear bottle but also believed that God somehow was also storing up David’s personal tears in His own heavenly bottle of tears.

There is a touching story in the earthly ministry of Jesus that provides another example: “Behold, a woman in the city, which was a sinner, when she knew that Jesus sat at meat in the Pharisee’s house, brought an alabaster box of ointment, and stood at his feet behind him weeping, and began to wash his feet with tears . . . and anointed them with the ointment” (Luke 7:37–38).

The ointment was obviously not the same as the tears but followed the washing by tears. Some scholars think these tears came from her bottle, which was emptied on His feet and used to wash them. Others think that those tear bottles that have been found actually contained the collected tears of mourners at a burial site.

In any case, God does know all our wanderings, sorrows and tears and stores them up somewhere. Perhaps it is also a metaphor for His “book of remembrance,” which is being “written before him for them that feared the LORD, and that thought upon his name” (Malachi 3:16). HMM

 

 

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

Joyce Meyer

Joyce Meyer – Obeying When We Don’t Feel Like It

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“Truly I tell you,” Jesus replied, “no one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for me and the gospel will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present age: homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children and fields—along with persecutions—and in the age to come eternal life.”

Mark 10:29–30 (NIV)

One of the emotions we need to manage at times is the feeling that we simply don’t want to do something we know we should do. It may be inconvenient or uncomfortable, or we simply may not like it. In other words, we don’t want to sacrifice. But many times, obeying God does require giving up something or doing what we’d rather not do. To follow His will for our lives, we have to come to terms with the fact that it often calls for some type of sacrifice and to be willing to do what He asks of us.

In today’s Scripture passage, Jesus promises to reward those who sacrifice for Him. He says the rewards will come both on earth and in eternal life. Sometimes He asks for radical obedience, and radical obedience pays great dividends. It leads us to the personal joy and peace we experience when we know we are walking in God’s will and to the other rewards He has promised. God is always aware of what we sacrifice, and He knows how to bless us in ways that make us glad we have obeyed Him.

Obeying God always brings a reward. It may not be exactly what we think it should be, but it is always what is best for us. It may not come when we think it should, but it will come right on time. I have found that God is a great rewarder. When we sacrifice in order to obey Him, He blesses us in amazing ways.

Prayer of the Day: Lord, help me be willing to give up whatever I need to in order to be obedient to You and experience the blessings You have for me.

 

http://www.joycemeyer.org