Daily Archives: July 2, 2026

Turning Point

Turning Point; David Jeremiah – Pulling Others Up

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And immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and caught him.
Matthew 14:31

Recommended Reading: Matthew 14:22-33

Logan Hayes was stuck in traffic on Interstate 95 when he noticed a vehicle sinking in a nearby pond. He leaped from his car and jumped in the water. A panicked woman was stuck in the front seat. Logan pulled her out and swam her fifty feet to shore. The woman was pregnant, and hours after the rescue she gave birth to a healthy baby girl. One unselfish act, two lives saved!1

It’s important to keep our eyes open for drowning people. They may be drowning in debt, drowning in sorrow, or drowning in sin. When Peter was sinking beneath the waves, Jesus reached down and pulled him up. Later Peter stretched out his hand to a lame man, pulled him to his feet, and the man began walking and leaping and praising God (Acts 3:7-8).

The same Jesus who knew how to pull Peter from the overwhelming waves can empower us to pull people from their bad places in life. As we attempt to live our lives as Christ did, we have the responsibility of looking out for the interests of others. Ask Him to show you ways to pull others up.

The Bible teaches that we have a Christian duty to help our neighbors in their time of need. We are called by God to bring the water of life for both soul and body.
Billy Graham

  1. “Good Samaritan Rescues Pregnant Woman From Sinking Car in Florida,” 6ABC Action News, February 10, 2026.

 

 

 

https://www.davidjeremiah.org

Our Daily Bread

Our Daily Bread – Team Effort in Christ

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Pity anyone who falls and has no one to help them up. Ecclesiastes 4:10

Today’s Scripture

Ecclesiastes 4:9-12

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Today’s Devotion

In 1869, construction began on the Brooklyn Bridge in New York City. Soon after work commenced, chief engineer Washington Roebling became very ill. His wife, Emily, pitched in to help. She studied his plans, revised specifications, and gave instructions to his assistants. Emily assisted her husband in any way she could, and when the bridge opened in 1883, she rode in the first carriage across it. Her husband praised her “remarkable talent” and “her thorough knowledge of the work and plans.”

Such teamwork is beautiful and the secret to the most meaningful work of our lives. Solomon explained the basis of teamwork in Ecclesiastes: “Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their labor: if either of them falls down, one can help the other up” (4:9-10). And Paul said we should view teamwork as a key to the work of the church: “There are many parts, but one body” (1 Corinthians 12:20). He further explained that there should be “no division in the body” (v. 25) as everyone serves together, caring for each other.

In our work, our family, or in the life of the church, none of us are in this alone. We need each other when someone falters, and we need each other as we combine our talents. Teamwork is vital as we set out to accomplish what God wants us to do.

Reflect & Pray

In what ways can you team up with others to do God’s work? How have you been helped by a teammate in serving Christ?

Thank You, dear God, for guiding me to work together with others. Please help me to be the kind of helper others can depend on.

Today’s Insights

Ecclesiastes may seem like little more than a string of musings from an embittered sage. Any coherent message we do find is steeped in futility. Chapter 4 is typical as the philosopher surveys “toil and all achievement” (v. 4) through a bleak, earthbound lens. “There was a man all alone,” he says. “There was no end to his toil, yet his eyes were not content with his wealth” (v. 8). When we live for ourselves, contentment eludes us. The writer provides hope, however: “Two are better than one” (v. 9), and “a cord of three strands is not quickly broken” (v. 12). Left to ourselves, our human pursuits are truly in vain. God intended for us to live in community, interdependent on each other. Most of all, He wants us to live with Him at the center of our lives (see 12:1, 13-14). In Him, toil becomes teamwork as He helps us accomplish what He wants us to do.

For further study, read Should We Be the Acts 2 Church?.

 

 

http://www.odb.org

Denison Forum

Denison Forum – Supreme Court rules on transgender athletes in girls’ sports

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The US Supreme Court handed down a ruling Tuesday rejecting President Trump’s bid to end birthright citizenship and another upholding state restrictions on transgender athletes. The latter was good news to me since I am the grandfather of a school-age granddaughter.

However, the Court’s ruling on transgender athletes does not end the controversy. The justices determined that states can constitutionally ban biological boys from girls’ sports teams, not that they must. Now, as with the Dobbs decision on abortion, the conflict returns to the states. At present, twenty-seven states limit school sports for women and girls to athletes whose biological sex is female. In the remaining states, biological girls have no such protections.

As our nation nears its 250th birthday, this issue points to a factor that was foundational to our founding and remains vital to our future.

“Our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor”

I was privileged recently to visit the National Archives in Washington, DC, where I stood before the original Declaration of Independence. Its writing was difficult to read in some places and impossible in others due to the parchment’s circuitous and sometimes perilous journey to its present location. As a result, I could make out John Hancock’s iconic, oversized signature, but many of the other names have faded over time.

Continue reading Denison Forum – Supreme Court rules on transgender athletes in girls’ sports →

Greg Laurie

Harvest Ministries; Greg Laurie – Original Condition

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 Restore us, O LORD God of hosts; Cause Your face to shine, And we shall be saved! 

—Psalm 80:19

Scripture:

Before we get too deep in our discussion of revival in our country, we should probably define the term. What is revival exactly? Too often believers mystify the word without understanding its true meaning. Revival is simply another word for “refreshment” or “restoration.”

A psalmist wrote, “Won’t you revive us again, so your people can rejoice in you?” (Psalm 85:6 NLT). Another psalm says, “Restore us, O Lord God of hosts; Cause Your face to shine, And we shall be saved!” (Psalm 80:19 NKJV). Revival carries with it the idea of returning something to its original condition.

Think of someone who buys a beat-up old car from a junkyard. They do bodywork on it. They repaint it. They drop a new engine in it. They put new tires on it. And when you see it cruising down the road, you can hardly believe it’s the same car. That’s called a restoration.

Think of a plant that’s beginning to wither. You give it some water and take it out into the sunshine, and it comes back to life again. Think of the fatigue you experience when you work out in the hot sun all day. Then think of the feeling you experience when you come inside an air-conditioned house and drink some cool water. Revival is the spiritual equivalent of that kind of restoration and refreshment.

A spiritual revival is when God’s people come back to life again because they’ve been refreshed. They’ve been refilled. They’ve been restored to their original condition.

The United States experienced a remarkable revival a few decades before the Declaration of Independence was signed. The impact of that revival reverberated powerfully in the founding of our nation. Being restored to that original condition could look like many different things in our country. Noah Webster, often referred as the Father of American Scholarship and Education, offered a starting point when he said, “The moral principles and precepts contained in the Scriptures ought to form the basis of all our civil constitutions and laws. . . . All the miseries and evils which men suffer from vice, crime, ambition, injustice, oppression, slavery and war, proceed from their despising or neglecting the precepts contained in the Bible.”

For the church, which is the spiritual center of our nation, being restored to the original condition would resemble the description of Paul and Silas found in Acts 17:6: “These who have turned the world upside down” (NKJV). The church is meant to impact the world, not be impacted by it. It’s meant to disrupt the status quo and not to settle for it. The church is meant to shine a light on the darkness of this world and not to ignore it or make excuses for it.

Revival encourages us to embrace the full extent of our God-given potential. It compels us to do the hard work to become the best possible versions of ourselves—as individuals, as a church, and as a nation.

 

Reflection question: What would a spiritual refreshing or restoration look like in your life? Discuss this with believers like you on Harvest Discipleship!

 

 

 

Harvest.org | Greg Laurie

Days of Praise

Days of Praise – No Complaints

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by Henry M. Morris, Ph.D.

“And when the people complained, it displeased the LORD: and the LORD heard it; and his anger was kindled; and the fire of the LORD burnt among them, and consumed them that were in the uttermost parts of the camp.” (Numbers 11:1)

The Lord is not pleased when we complain about our circumstances, no matter how grievous they may seem to us. Our example is Christ, always. “For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps” (1 Peter 2:21).

The children of Israel complained once too much. Forgetting all of God’s blessings in miraculously freeing them from slavery and providing for all their needs, they repeatedly complained about their lot, one thing after another. “But with many of them God was not well pleased: for they were overthrown in the wilderness. Now these things were our examples, to the intent that we should not lust after evil things, as they also lusted. . . . Neither murmur ye, as some of them also murmured, and were destroyed of the destroyer” (1 Corinthians 10:5–6, 10).

God may not deal with a complaining Christian as severely as He did with His chosen people, Israel, but we can be sure He is displeased when we, who have received the blessing of eternal salvation by His gracious gift through Christ, forget His benefits and complain about His testing. “Do all things without mumurings and disputings,” He has commanded (Philippians 2:14)—that is, without complaining and arguing about our treatment.

We can be confident that He allows these difficulties for some good purpose in preparing us for our service for Him in eternity. We should not forget what happened to the complainers in ancient Israel. “Now all these things happened unto them for examples: and they are written for our admonition” (1 Corinthians 10:11). HMM

 

 

 

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

Joyce Meyer

Joyce Meyer – Take Time for God

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. But those who wait for the Lord [who expect, look for, and hope in Him] shall change and renew their strength and power; they shall lift their wings and mount up [close to God] as eagles [mount up to the sun]; they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint or become tired.

Isaiah 40:31 (AMPC)

We live in a time-crunched world, and just about everything we do seems urgent. The enemy has been extremely successful in his scheme to keep people from praying and spending time in the Word by keeping us so terribly busy. We live under incredible pressure and run from one thing to the next—to the point that we often neglect the things that are really important in life: God, family and other relationships, our health, and building up our spiritual lives.

Then we get more and more stressed out—and the only way to deal with that and get life back in order is to get with God and listen to what He says to us. It’s true; we really cannot handle life apart from Him. We cannot handle the pressure, confusion, and stress without Him. Our marriages will suffer, our children will suffer, our finances will get messed up, and our relationships won’t thrive if we do not spend time in the Word and in prayer.

God will strengthen us and enable us to handle life peacefully and wisely if we start praying about things instead of merely trying to get through the day. When we take time with God and listen to His voice, He renews our strength and enables us to handle life without growing weary. But we have to start by using the time we have wisely and always putting God first.

Prayer of the Day: God, help me slow down and spend time with You. Teach me to put You first and trust You to strengthen me each day, amen.

 

 

http://www.joycemeyer.org

Max Lucado

Max Lucado – A New Chapter for Life 

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Play

The anxious heart says, “There’s trouble out there!” So you don’t sleep well, you don’t laugh often, misfortune lurks…it’s just a matter of time. As a result, you’re anxious.

How can this be? Our cars are safer than ever. We regulate food and water and electricity. Yet if worry were an Olympic event, we’d win the gold medal. Keep in mind anxiety is not a sin; it’s an emotion. It can, however, lead to sinful behavior.  When we numb our fears with six-packs or food binges, or when we peddle our fears to anyone who’ll buy them, we’re sinning.

Jesus gave this word: “Be careful, or your hearts will be weighed down with…the anxieties of life.” (Luke 21:34 NIV). God made you for more than a life of angst and mind-splitting worry. He has a new chapter for your life, and he is ready to write it.

 

 

 

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Today in the Word

Today in the Word – Moody Bible Institute – Keys to Blessedness

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Read Matthew 5:5–8

What does it mean to be meek? Campus minister Derek Rishmawy asserts: “We don’t understand the virtue of meekness and tend to think it indicates weakness. Meekness is a gentleness that restrains us from anger. Meekness is not something we can achieve in our own earthly strength. It is something only Jesus can give.”

The “meek” or gentle are the third group of people named as blessed or happy in the Beatitudes (v. 5; Ps. 37:11). The blessings in the Beatitudes, including meekness, are blessings we can and should pray for; they are also qualities or virtues to which we should aspire. Commentator Frederick Dale Bruner describes the meek as “those who make no claims for themselves before God or before other people.” Surprisingly, for reasons similar to those implied in verse 3, they will “inherit the earth,” despite not being aggressive or ambitious. The earth is the Lord’s to do with as He chooses.

The fourth group are people who “hunger and thirst for righteousness” (v. 6). They are in fact starving for righteousness. They desire to be utterly free from the power of sin and completely conformed to the image of Christ (Rom. 8:29). These people will be “filled” or satisfied, which can only happen through the work of our righteous God.

The fifth group who are blessed or happy are the “merciful” (v. 7). Augustine interpreted this quality specifically as coming to the aid of the poor and needy. Appropriately, they themselves “will be shown mercy.”

The sixth group are the “pure in heart” (v. 8). According to D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones in Studies in the Sermon on the Mount, this phrase means genuine, sincere, and single-minded in one’s devotion to God. Such people “will see God,” an incredible blessing and promise.

Go Deeper

Identify one of the qualities or virtues mentioned in the Beatitudes where you desire to grow. Why are most of these attributes not valued in the eyes of the world?

Pray with Us

Lord, the qualities Jesus teaches in the Sermon on the Mount come directly from You. Whether we need more meekness, mercy, righteousness, or purity of heart, will You help us grow in these areas?

Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.Matthew 5:8

 

 

 

https://www.moodybible.org/