Daily Archives: July 3, 2026

Turning Point

Turning Point; David Jeremiah – The Newness of the Spirit

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But now we have been delivered from the law, having died to what we were held by, so that we should serve in the newness of the Spirit and not in the oldness of the letter.
Romans 7:6

Recommended Reading: Romans 6:5-11

In Romans 6 and 7, the apostle Paul explains that in coming to Christ we die to the law. That is, we die to the idea that we can be saved by keeping the law. We die to the law as a binding covenant authority over us. The law is no longer the governing framework of our relationship with God. Having trusted in Christ as Savior, the Holy Spirit comes to enable us to live a life that fulfills the undergirding principle of the law—love. We now serve in the newness of the Spirit.

We simply cannot live in a Christlike way on our own or in our own abilities. Jesus wants to live His life through us by means of the Holy Spirit. He wants to do His work through us by the Holy Spirit. A Christlike attitude is one that isn’t focused on us but on doing the will of God. We can only do that through the power of the Holy Spirit within us.

Each day ask the Holy Spirit to guide you in knowing and doing God’s will. Ask the Spirit to fill you today and to have His complete way in your words, deeds, and actions.

All of Christ in all of you. You can never have more. You need never have less.
Major Ian Thomas

 

 

 

https://www.davidjeremiah.org

Our Daily Bread

Our Daily Bread – Walk by Faith

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Those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. Isaiah 40:31

Today’s Scripture

Isaiah 40:25-31

Listen to Today’s Devotion

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Today’s Devotion

The woman walked gingerly up each step to the church’s sanctuary for that night’s prayer service. As she paused because of her pain or breathlessness, a man passing by said, “One step at a time. That’s the only way you’re going to make it. Take it easy.” His words were meant to encourage the woman and may have given her the boost she needed to reach the top. They certainly encouraged my weary soul during my visit that evening.

In our faith journey, we may feel tempted to quit when the path seems too long or difficult. Yet in these moments, we can find solace in the words the prophet Isaiah spoke to comfort the Israelites. He told them God would eventually redeem them from their decades of captivity in Babylon, and He reminded them that God wasn’t like powerless idols (Isaiah 40:18-20).  Almighty God, who created the heavens and earth, “will not grow tired or weary,” and He strengthens the weak (vv. 28-29). “Those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint” (v. 31).

Isaiah’s words encouraged the Israelites, and we can receive strength from the same “everlasting God” (vv. 28-29) they were trusting. Let’s walk by faith day by day and one step at a time. As we continue to hope in the one true God, He will help us walk, run, and soar for His glory.

Reflect & Pray

Why is it sometimes hard to take things one step at a time? How can you rely on God’s strength each day?

Dear God, thank You for strengthening me step by step.

Today’s Insights

Isaiah warned the unrepentant people of Judah that God would exile them to Babylon because of their covenantal unfaithfulness (Isaiah 1-39). But after disciplining them, God would bring them back to the promised land and bless them (chs. 40-66). Comforting a discouraged Judah (40:1-2), Isaiah assured them that God wouldn’t abandon them and that He had the power to bless them. He reminded them that Yahweh alone, “the Holy One” (v. 25), is their everlasting, omnipotent, sovereign “Creator” (v. 28). Speaking tenderly of God as a loving and caring shepherd, Isaiah said that God “gathers the lambs in his arms and carries them close to his heart” (v. 11) to bring them home. The tired, weary, and weak would find new strength (vv. 28-31) as they journeyed back to the promised land with God. In our journey of faith, God will provide strength as well. We affirm with the psalmist, “Blessed are those whose hope . . . is in the Lord their God” (Psalm 146:5).

 

 

http://www.odb.org

Denison Forum

Denison Forum – Why John Adams thought July 2 was Independence Day

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On July 4, our nation’s capital will be the site of the largest fireworks display in history, an Independence Day Parade, and the Freedom250 celebration. An America250 benefit show will take place in Los Angeles as well. There will also be an IndyCar race in Washington, DC, a flotilla of tall ships in New York City, and a reenactment of the Battle of Gettysburg, among other events.

But unlike the birth of a person, the birthday of our country is a more complex story, one that illustrates our past and informs our future.

On July 3, John Adams wrote to his wife Abigail, “The Second Day of July 1776, will be the most memorable Epocha, in the History of America.” He added that July 2 “ought to be solemnized with Pomp and Parade, with Shews, Games, Sports, Guns, Bells, Bonfires and Illuminations from one End of this Continent to the other from this Time forward forever more.”

The reason for his enthusiasm was simple: Congress actually declared independence from Great Britain on July 2. The vote followed more than a year of debates and Richard Henry Lee’s resolution, introduced in early June, that the American colonies “are, and of right ought to be, free and independent States.”

Continue reading Denison Forum – Why John Adams thought July 2 was Independence Day →

Greg Laurie

Harvest Ministries; Greg Laurie – A Source of Hope

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 I pray that God, the source of hope, will fill you completely with joy and peace because you trust in him. Then you will overflow with confident hope through the power of the Holy Spirit. 

—Romans 15:13

Scripture:

Hope is a precious commodity in today’s world. Our 24-hour news cycle feeds us story after story of events and tragedies that are far beyond our control. Many people spend hours online “doomscrolling,” obsessively searching for content that reinforces their negativity or triggers their anxiety.

As a nation, we’ve certainly faced our share of dark times before. For many, there was little hope to be found during the years of the Civil War or in the struggle for civil rights. But our current culture feels different. The algorithms that drive social media seem to reinforce a sense of hopelessness. And the occasional piece of content that momentarily offers hope often turns out to be AI-generated.

So when people encounter genuine hope, the results are often profound. That’s why the apostle Paul wrote, “I pray that God, the source of hope, will fill you completely with joy and peace because you trust in him. Then you will overflow with confident hope through the power of the Holy Spirit” (Romans 15:13 NLT).

Believers understand that with God, there is no such thing as hopelessness. Andrew Jackson understood that. In a letter to his wife he wrote, “I trust that the god of Isaac and of Jacob will protect you, and give you health in my absence, in him alone we ought to trust, he alone can preserve, and guide us through this troublesome world, and I am sure he will hear your prayers. We are told that the prayers of the righteous prevaileth much, and I add mine for your health and preservation untill we again meet.”

The overflowing hope that Paul spoke of springs from a spiritual passion. That’s why revival is essential to the lifeblood of believers and to the lifeblood of our nation. For believers, revival involves recapturing the first bloom of a love relationship with Jesus Christ. Sometimes when we’ve been walking with the Lord for a while, our spiritual passion begins to fade. Our zeal begins to erode. We lose some of our initial excitement about our relationship with Him. Revival is how we get it back.

When we as Christians restore the passion and fervor to our relationship with Christ, good things happen—in and around us. That renewed passion and fervor feeds on itself. Hope fills and then overflows our lives and then splashes all over the people around us. That’s how revival spreads.

I was speaking once with Chuck Smith, who is regarded as the father of the last great spiritual awakening in our country—an event known as the Jesus Movement. I asked him, “Chuck, do you think we’ll ever see another Jesus Movement?”

His answer was this: “I don’t know, Greg. I don’t know if we’re desperate enough.”

It’s time for God’s people to rediscover our passion, our hope, and our desperation.

 

Reflection question: What would renewed spiritual passion, hope, and desperation look like in your life? Discuss this with believers like you on Harvest Discipleship!

 

 

 

Harvest.org | Greg Laurie

Days of Praise

Days of Praise – Lights in the World

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by Henry M. Morris III, D.Min.

“The sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world.” (Philippians 2:15)

The Hebrew and Greek terms for “sons of God” are essentially the same, but the Old Testament always uses the phrase in reference to angels, whereas the New Testament always references the twice-born saints of God.

Our text for this day emphasizes the precise reason that our Lord Jesus prayed, “I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world . . . . They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world” (John 17:15–16). We who share this marvelous relationship bear both the “love the Father hath bestowed upon us” and the unique rejection that “the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not” (1 John 3:1).

Jesus said, “I am the light of the world” (John 8:12), and we who are His disciples are “the light of the world” (Matthew 5:14). We, unlike the angels, are to remain in this unfair and distorted world as lights. Consider this! We are the light that the Lord Jesus left in this world to represent Him and His message after He returned to heaven (John 9:5).

That is why the Scriptures refer to us as saints (holy ones) and disciples (followers); even the pejorative “Christians” identify us as representing the King (Acts 11:26)! We must therefore shine with the truth (John 3:19) and shed the “light of the glorious gospel of Christ” (2 Corinthians 4:4), attempting to “lighteth every man that cometh into the world” (John 1:9).

Finally, we are surely commanded to “walk in the light, as he is in the light” (1 John 1:7). Our light should never be covered in a “bushel” (Matthew 5:15) but set on a “hill” for all to see (v. 14). HMM III

 

 

 

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

Joyce Meyer

Joyce Meyer – How to Handle Disappointment

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. Sustain me, my God, according to your promise, and I will live; do not let my hopes be dashed.

Psalm 119:116 (NIV)

Disappointment often occurs when our hopes or plans are thwarted by something we cannot help or situations we cannot control. We can be disappointed by unpleasant circumstances or by people who let us down. We may feel disappointment with God when we’ve been expecting Him to do something and He doesn’t. There are even times when we’re disappointed in ourselves. No one gets everything they want all the time, so we need to learn how to deal with disappointment.

When we’re disappointed, our emotions initially sink. Then they sometimes flare up in anger or a sense of injustice as we think, This isn’t fair! As time goes by, and after we’ve thoroughly expressed our anger, our emotions may spiral downward again. We feel negative, discouraged, and depressed. The next time you’re disappointed, pay attention to the activity of your emotions.

But instead of letting them take the lead, decide that you will manage them. There’s nothing unusual or wrong about initial feelings of disappointment. But what we do from that point forward makes all the difference in the world.

I learned long ago that with God on our side, even though we will experience disappointments in life, we can always get “reappointed.” If we have a doctor’s appointment and the doctor has to cancel because of an emergency, we simply make another appointment. Life can be that way too. Trusting that God has a good plan for us and that He orders our steps is the key to preventing disappointment from turning into despair.

Prayer of the Day: When I am disappointed, Lord, I choose to trust You, knowing that You have a good plan for my life and that You direct my steps.

 

 

http://www.joycemeyer.org

Max Lucado

Max Lucado – The Overseer of Your World 

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Play

It is not God’s will that you face every day with dread and trepidation.

I have a childhood memory that I cherish. My father loved corn bread and buttermilk. About ten o’clock each night he would meander into the kitchen and crumble a piece of corn bread into a glass of buttermilk, stand at the counter and drink it. Then he’d make the rounds to the front and back doors, checking the locks. Once everything was secure, he would step into the bedroom I shared with my brother and say something like, “Everything is secure, boys. You can go to sleep now.”

I have no inclination to believe that God loves corn bread and buttermilk, but I do believe he loves his children. He keeps everything secure. He oversees your world. And by his power you will “be anxious for nothing” and discover the “peace…that passes all understanding” (Philippians 4:4-8 RSV).

 

 

 

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Today in the Word

Today in the Word – Moody Bible Institute – Peacemakers and Persecuted

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Read Matthew 5:9–12

The Nobel Peace Prize is one of the most highly esteemed honors in the world, given to an organization or a person who has worked tirelessly for peace, reconciliation, human rights, or justice. In 2014, Malala Yousafzai of Pakistan was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for championing the rights of all children to receive an education.

In the Beatitudes, Jesus taught that blessed are the peacemakers (v. 9). This is the seventh group highlighted by Jesus as blessed or happy. Shalom, the Hebrew word for peace, doesn’t just mean the absence of war or conflict. It signifies overall well-being and can be applied to any set of social relationships, from nations to families and friendships. Those who contribute to peace in this sense “will be called children of God,” a result that focuses on redemption and the gospel (Rom. 5:1,10).

The eighth group of people who are blessed or happy are “those who are persecuted because of righteousness” (v. 10). This is further defined as those who are insulted or mocked, lied about, and persecuted for the sake of Christ (v. 11). Satan and the world have always persecuted worshipers of God and will continue to do so until Christ returns. Like the “poor in spirit” (v. 3), this group will receive the kingdom of heaven.

Followers of Christ should rejoice when they’re being persecuted (v. 12)! Why? One reason is because it shows we’re on the right track. The world will treat us as it treated our Master, and we should follow His example while enduring such treatment (1 Peter 2:21–24). Another reason is we will receive a “reward in heaven.” We stand in a long historical line of faithful worshipers of God who have been persecuted, including the Old Testament prophets (Matt. 23:29–31).

Go Deeper

What does it mean to be “blessed” or “happy” from our cultural point of view? How and why are these different from a biblical perspective?

Pray with Us

What a mighty God we serve! As we pursue peace, fill us with gratitude for Your redemption through Jesus. As we pursue righteousness in persecution, give us joy in serving You.

Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven.Matthew 5:12

 

 

 

https://www.moodybible.org/