Daily Archives: June 7, 2026

Today in the Word

Today in the Word – Moody Bible Institute – Spiritual Milk

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Read 1 Peter 2:1–3

Have you ever been at a prayer meeting at church or a small group where the prayer requests felt more like gossip sessions than times of genuinely seeking the Lord? In chapter 2, Peter picks up on his encouragement from yesterday that the church should “love one another deeply, from the heart” (1 Pet. 1:22).

In order to love others well, we must throw off many common vices that undermine community (v.1). The vices he lists are: “malice”—a mean-spirited or vicious attitude; “deceit”—craftiness or cunning in relationships; “hypocrisy”—insincerity; “envy”; and “slander” (v. 1). It is impossible to love one another well when this kind of culture is present. Peter challenges us to get rid of these sinful behaviors so the community will not be infected.

We might expect this list of vices to be followed by a list of virtues to cultivate. But that is not what Peter advises here. Instead, he says, “Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk” (v. 2). This is a call to be dependent on the Lord. “Milk” here does not refer to elementary Christian teaching as it does elsewhere in the New Testament (1 Cor. 3:1–2; Heb. 5:13). The analogy here is that just as a newborn craves milk, we also should crave pure spiritual food. What is that food? The context makes it clear; it is the “word of the Lord” (1 Pet. 1:25). We are to show our dependence on the Lord through our desire for and love of His Word. It is not possible to be full of hypocrisy, envy, and malice when we recognize our position before God.

The goal is to “grow up in your salvation” (v. 2). The best way to think about what that means is to look to Jesus.

Go Deeper

God uses His Word to help us become more like Christ. How have you seen spending time in God’s Word affect your relationships with others?

Pray with Us

Jesus, we look to Your example for how to edify our community. Help us cast off any malice, deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander, and replace them with devotion to You and love for others.

Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation.1 Peter 2:2

 

 

https://www.moodybible.org/

Our Daily Bread

Our Daily Bread – Remembering Who We Are

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Ruth replied, . . . “Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God.” Ruth 1:16

Today’s Scripture

Ruth 1:11-18

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Today’s Devotion

A restaurant employee discovered an unconscious man beside a dumpster. He was sunburned, bitten by ants, and showed signs of blunt force trauma. He had no memory of who he was. The man, later self-named “Benjamin Kyle,” lived in limbo for more than a decade. He couldn’t work, collect benefits, or even reclaim his past. His healing began when a community of strangers helped him rediscover his identity through genetic testing and investigation. “I have a history,” he said. “I’m not just some stranger that materialized out of thin air.”

The story of Ruth in the Bible can also be seen as one of rediscovered belonging. After losing her husband and leaving her homeland, she chose to bind herself to her mother-in-law Naomi and her people. She said, “Where you go I will go . . . . Your people will be my people and your God my God” (Ruth 1:16). Ruth connected her identity and destiny to that of Naomi and her people in life and in death. She was “determined to go with her” (v. 18)—prioritizing community over clarity, belonging over certainty. In doing so, she stepped into God’s redemptive story and is remembered forever as part of the lineage of Christ (4:18-22; Matthew 1:3-5).

When we as believers in Jesus forget who we are—or when life’s pain leaves us disoriented—God often uses community to reconnect us with our most authentic identity. In Him we’re beloved, chosen, and known.

Reflect & Pray

Who is God using to help you remember who you are in Him? What does it mean to be known by Him?

Dear God, please help me remember who I am in You.

Today’s Insights

Ruth’s devotion to her mother-in-law Naomi was a hard choice that carried with it the prospects of great difficulties. Ruth, a Moabitess, would’ve faced tremendous challenges in moving to Bethlehem. Moab, though a distant cousin of Israel, had become Israel’s enemy (Judges 3), resulting in significant hostilities. Additionally, being a widow in a strange land where she didn’t have the support of family and friends (aside from Naomi) would’ve been potentially dangerous. Through Naomi’s extended family (Boaz), however, God would provide both sustenance and safety (Ruth 2:1, 8-9). Ruth would eventually be enfolded into that community as the wife of Boaz and would become the great-grandmother of King David (4:17). For us today as well, God often uses community to remind us of His great care for us.

 

http://www.odb.org

Denison Forum

Denison Forum – The consequences of rejecting God’s design for holiness and sexuality

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Last week, we discussed what it means to trust God and his word as the source not only of our blessings but also of our sense of freedom and independence.

But what happens when a culture comes to see obedience to God as the source of persecution and disparagement? How can a nation live in a manner that the Lord can bless when it has come to accept a sense of toleration and an understanding of morality that are simply incompatible with the kind of morality that he asks of us?

Unfortunately, America seems intent on finding out. And there are a few areas in which that is more clearly demonstrated than in our approach to sex and sexuality.

So, in light of that struggle, what might God say to us today?

Abiding by God’s standards

In Genesis 13, we read that “the men of Sodom were wicked, great sinners against the Lord” (v. 13). God called the sin of Sodom and Gomorrah “very grave” (Genesis 18:20) and could not find ten who were righteous in Sodom (Genesis 18:32).

Continue reading Denison Forum – The consequences of rejecting God’s design for holiness and sexuality →

Days of Praise

Days of Praise – Like-Minded

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by Henry M. Morris III, D.Min.

“Fulfil ye my joy, that ye be likeminded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind.” (Philippians 2:2)

This emphatic command, along with the parallel terms, helps us understand the concept of thinking the same thing. “Be of the same mind one toward another. Mind not high things, but condescend to men of low estate. Be not wise in your own conceits” (Romans 12:16).

Such thinking also includes “having the same love.” There are two aspects of this love. First, the term itself (agape) demands that all of Christ’s disciples “love one another: for love is of God” (1 John 4:7). This is often repeated to born-again believers so that our love for each other is so obvious that “by this shall all men know that ye are my disciples” (John 13:35).

Godly love then produces “being of one accord.” This phrase is the translation of the Greek word sumpsuchos, which is a compound of the preposition most often translated “with” and the word for “soul.” Thus, the agape that we are to share results in a connection “with-soul” that binds the “like-mindedness” in agreement with the mind and spirit of the Creator God.

We are finally commanded to be of “one mind”—slightly different from the “likeminded” opening charge of Philippians 2:2. The initial words are auto phronete—“I think.” The last use is phronountes—“same (way of) thinking.”

The entire context of the opening verses of Philippians 2 is to think like Jesus Christ thinks. “Let this mind be in you which was in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 2:5). “Set your affection [phroneo] on things above, not on things on the earth” (Colossians 3:2). This kind of thinking must have God’s love and soul embedded in the very core of our heart, soul, mind, and strength. HMM III

 

 

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

Joyce Meyer

Joyce Meyer – Discover Your Identity and Worth

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Yet the Lord is faithful, and He will strengthen [you] and set you on a firm foundation and guard you from the evil [one].

2 Thessalonians 3:3 (AMPC)

When a boy is growing up, he begins to realize that he is not like his mother, and he differentiates himself from her. His masculinity is defined by separation. He will normally seek his own identity and individuality. A girl does not feel this need and usually remains close to and dependent upon her mother.

About twice as many women as men experience depression, and about 70 percent of the mood-altering or anxiety-relieving drugs are taken by women. In her book Unfinished Business: Pressure Points in the Lives of Women, Maggie Scarf has suggested this reason:

Women are statistically more depressed because they have been taught to be more dependent and affection-seeking, and thus they rarely achieve an independent sense of self. A woman gives her highest priorities to pleasing others, being attractive to others, being cared for, and caring for others. Women receive ferocious training in a direction that leads away from thinking “What do I want?” and toward “What do they want?” They may be in danger of merely melting into the people around them and fail to realize they are an individual with rights and needs, and they need to establish independence.

Prayer of the Day: Lord, it is so easy to lose my sense of independence and get caught in totally depending upon others. Strengthen me and set me on Your firm foundation of freedom, amen.

 

http://www.joycemeyer.org