Daily Archives: September 3, 2026

Turning Point

Turning Point; David Jeremiah – Storms

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There was a mighty tempest on the sea, so that the ship was about to be broken up…. Now when neither sun nor stars appeared for many days, and no small tempest beat on us, all hope that we would be saved was finally given up.
Jonah 1:4; Acts 27:20

Recommended Reading: Acts 27:21-25

Jonah encountered a storm in the Mediterranean Sea that nearly took his life. A similar thing happened to the apostle Paul in Acts 27 on the same sea and with the same raw terror. In Jonah’s case, the prophet’s sin precipitated the storm. In the case of Paul, the storm arose for other reasons. In both cases, God used the storms to develop the souls of his two servants.

Not every storm happens because of sin, but every storm can be used by God to shape our faith and character and draw us closer to Him. How we wish we could avoid storms! Bereavement! Illness! Anxiety about our loved ones! Yet there has never been a storm beyond the reach of our Savior’s outstretched arm. We often learn more about Him in the storm than in the sunshine.

When you experience a difficult trial, look for how God is helping you to grow in your relationship with Him.

The Lord’s our rock, in Him we hide, a shelter in the time of storm.
Vernon Charlesworth

 

 

 

https://www.davidjeremiah.org

Our Daily Bread

Our Daily Bread – Reverent Fear of God

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Fear the Lord your God. Deuteronomy 10:12

Today’s Scripture

Deuteronomy 10:12-15

Listen to Today’s Devotion

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Today’s Devotion

“I killed people in the past,” Tanitan said, “but ever since I chose to believe in Jesus Christ, He will not allow me to commit such practices anymore.” Tanitan, a member of the Ilongot tribe from the Sierra Madre mountains in the Philippines, came from a culture of head-hunting—the practice of hunting humans and severing their heads. In comparing his life before he knew God to his life now, Tanitan said, “Before, I was afraid to die but not afraid to kill. Now, I am afraid to kill but not afraid to die.”

As I read Tanitan’s story in the book To the Headhunters of Sierra Madre by Florentino Santos, I thought of how his newfound fear of or reverence toward God developed his desire to obey Him. I remembered Moses’ words to the Israelites before they entered the land God promised them: “What does the Lord your God ask of you but to fear the Lord your God” (Deuteronomy 10:2). Reverence toward God was to be reflected in obedience to Him. God’s people were to “walk in obedience to Him, to love Him . . . and to observe the Lord’s commands and decrees” (vv. 12-13).

As believers in Jesus, our deep respect for God’s holiness compels us to hate evil and do what pleases Him (Proverbs 8:13). Let’s ask Him to help us make reverence toward God a way of life.

Reflect & Pray

From today’s Scripture, how would you describe the “fear [of] the Lord”? Where do you find obeying God difficult, and how can the command to fear Him help you?

Holy God, please help me to experience reverent fear in Your presence.

Today’s Insights

“Moses summoned all Israel” (Deuteronomy 5:1), and he began to publicly review the covenant God had made with His people. They were about to cross the Jordan River (Joshua 3), and Moses would soon step across a “metaphorical” Jordan into eternity (Deuteronomy 34:7). Much of his speech recounts Israel’s rebellion during their meandering forty-year journey out of Egypt (9:7-24). Even as he assured them of their future success in inhabiting the promised land, Moses warned, “It is not because of your righteousness that the Lord your God is giving you this good land to possess” (v. 6). It was because God had chosen them, in spite of their failure: “They are your people, your inheritance that you brought out by your great power and your outstretched arm” (v. 29). Because God was their God, Israel was to follow Him. Although His holiness can’t tolerate sin, His Spirit enables believers in Jesus today to “fear” Him, “[obey]” Him, and worship Him (10:12).

For further study, read: The Fear of the Lord

 

 

http://www.odb.org

Denison Forum

Denison Forum – A guarded hope for President Trump’s Venezuela oil deal

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What happened: President Trump announced on Friday that his administration had entered into a deal with Venezuela that could have a profound impact on America’s oil reserves and energy capacities. The agreement grants the US a 35 percent stake in the North American Blue Energy Partners, along with the chance to purchase 20 percent of the oil it produces at cost. However, there are reasons to suspect the deal may not be as straightforward as it seems.

Why it matters: Energy independence has been one of the president’s primary concerns since returning to office, and this agreement could further insulate the United States from oil production in the Middle East and elsewhere. However, it also ties the country to Venezuela to an extent that could create new problems in the future. The specific text of the agreement, which has not been released, could decide which fate is more likely.

Continue reading Denison Forum – A guarded hope for President Trump’s Venezuela oil deal →

Greg Laurie

Harvest Ministries; Greg Laurie – Attention Surplus

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 May the LORD bless you and protect you. May the LORD smile on you and be gracious to you. May the LORD show you his favor and give you his peace. 

—Numbers 6:24–26

Scripture:

Numbers 6:24–26 

Attention is becoming a scarce commodity in our modern culture. Attention spans have become alarmingly short. Algorithms are constantly being tweaked and perfected to keep people’s focus on their screens. As a result, many people have little attention to spare for others.

How often do you find yourself talking to someone who isn’t listening—or who’s giving you considerably less than their full attention? And when you call them on it, the conversation usually goes something like this:

“Did you hear what I just said?”

“Yes.”

“What did I say?”

“Uh, something about something that happened.”

We may be tempted to wonder if we face the same challenge with God. He is the Sustainer of the universe, after all. Given the infinite number of things that concern Him, we may question whether we have His full attention. And when things aren’t going well for us, we may start to doubt that He’s even aware of our struggles.

Maybe Joseph felt that way at times. After all, he was only human. He had done all the right things, even after his brothers betrayed him and sold him into slavery. He had resisted the advances of Potiphar’s wife. And what did he get for being a person of integrity? He was falsely accused of sexual assault and thrown into an Egyptian prison.

How easily Joseph could have thought, “This is just great. You serve the Lord, you do what God wants, and this is where it gets you. If I had given in to Mrs. Potiphar, I wouldn’t be here right now. I would be living in the lap of luxury. But here I am, suffering!”

Of course, this would have been a shortsighted reaction. The truth is that God’s full attention was on Joseph, not just on his immediate circumstances, but on his long-term potential. God’s plan wasn’t for Joseph to be comfortable every day of his life and fully informed of what the future held. His plan was for Joseph to save countless people from famine and to set into motion the events that eventually would lead the people of Israel to the Promised Land.

Joseph was the ideal person for the job because he was willing to be still in even the worst circumstances. To look for the opportunities that presented themselves in prison. To use his God-given skills in surprising ways.

Even in the quietness of prison, Joseph was not outside God’s attention. He certainly didn’t understand everything that was happening to him. But he recognized that his circumstances were part of his preparation. He trusted that God was equipping him for something greater.

We too can have that confidence. Numbers 6:24–26 says, “May the Lord bless you and protect you. May the Lord smile on you and be gracious to you. May the Lord show you his favor and give you his peace” (NLT). The idea is that the Lord gives us His full attention.

Be still and let that amazing truth give you comfort in both good times and bad.

 

Reflection question: What does it mean to you to have God’s full attention?

Discuss this with believers like you on Harvest Discipleship!

 

 

 

Harvest.org | Greg Laurie

Days of Praise

Days of Praise – Faith, Substance, and Evidence

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by John D. Morris, Ph.D.

“Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” (Hebrews 11:1)

Hebrews 11 is known as the great Hall of Faith because it recites the faith and resulting action of many Old Testament heroes. It begins with a description of what faith is.

First, we see that it is the “substance of things hoped for.” Biblically, we know that the Christian hope is a hope so real that it has substance in the present. None of the people of faith recited in this chapter actually saw the promises made to them come to fruition, but they so believed in them that they lived in the present as if the future were reality.

The word “substance” occurs only two other times in Hebrews. It is used to speak of Christ as the exact representation of God’s essence and nature, “who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person [i.e., substance]” (Hebrews 1:3). It is also translated “confidence,” “for we are made partakers of Christ, if we hold the beginning of our confidence stedfast unto the end” (Hebrews 3:14), and speaks of a deep assurance. Putting this all together, our text could then be rendered “faith is the essence of our assurance of things yet in the future.”

The word “evidence” can be translated “conviction,” or even “proof.” The word implies a logical, airtight argument. “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof [same word as ‘evidence’], for correction, for instruction in righteousness” (2 Timothy 3:16). This sort of evidence is something we know to be true, something about which we have such conviction that we act accordingly.

The first half of the verse brings a future truth down into the present; the second half commits our lives to that truth. JDM

 

 

 

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

Joyce Meyer

Joyce Meyer – The Key to Conquering Frustration

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[Therefore, I do not treat God’s gracious gift as something of minor importance and defeat its very purpose]; I do not set aside and invalidate and frustrate and nullify the grace (unmerited favor) of God . . .

Galatians 2:21 (AMPC)

I know what frustration is like because I spent many years living a frustrated life. I knew who God was, but I knew very little of His grace and how to live in close relationship to Him. I have since learned that when I get frustrated, it’s almost always because I am trying to make something happen in my own strength instead of waiting on the Lord to make it happen. If I am frustrated, it is a sign that I am acting independently instead of relying on Him and receiving His grace.

Are you frustrated? In your relationships? In your career? In your walk with the Lord? Are you wrestling with an area of your personality that is causing you problems, or is there a specific habit in your life that you can’t break?

Frustration comes from trying to do something you cannot do on your own. God is the only One who can make things happen for you in your life. You will be frustrated if you try to do things without Him. But the minute you say, “Lord, I can’t do this on my own, so I turn it over to You. I am willing to do anything You ask me to do, but I will need Your grace (power) in order to do it”—when you sincerely pray that prayer, you will begin to enjoy the rest of God.

Prayer of the Day: Father, I can’t do this on my own, so I turn it over to You. Help me stop striving in my own strength and rest in Your grace, amen.

 

 

http://www.joycemeyer.org

Max Lucado

Max Lucado – Tattooed on God’s Hand 

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Play

On the second day of the D-Day invasion, Leon was taken captive by the Nazis. While being marched to a POW camp, he and another soldier escaped. A farmer found them and put them in touch with the French underground. They took his US credentials and created a French ID card for him.

He made it back to the Allied camp. Yet with no American ID, he was suspected of being a spy. He rolled up his sleeve and said, “Would this prove I’m an American?” It was a tattoo of an eagle, and on its breast was an American flag with the word Mother written across it. That convinced them.

Sound familiar? God says, “See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands” (Isaiah 49:16 NIV). Satan is vicious, but he will not be victorious. Why? Your name is tattooed on God’s hand.

 

 

 

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Today in the Word

Today in the Word – Moody Bible Institute – The King’s Decree

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Read Ezra 1:2-4

The Persian Empire was not a democracy. The king didn’t need to please his people. He was not concerned with reelection, and his word reigned supreme. The book of Ezra opens like the book of 2 Chronicles closes, with a decree from King Cyrus that God’s exiled people may return home at last!

Cyrus opens by crediting Israel’s God with his success. He states, “The Lord, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth” (v. 2). We know from an ancient artifact called the Cyrus Cylinder that Cyrus made similar claims about the Babylonian god Marduk. So it’s doubtful that Cyrus had converted to true faith in the one true God. Nevertheless, Cyrus spoke more accurately than he knew, for in the case of Israel’s God, what he said was true. Yahweh, and not Marduk or any other god ancient or modern, is Lord over all things. The Lord delivered Judah into Babylon’s hands, and now He had moved Cyrus’s heart to free the people from Persian captivity.

Cyrus also said Yahweh “appointed me to build a temple for him at Jerusalem in Judah” (v. 2). The temple was the cornerstone of Hebrew religion, where God dwelled among His people. But God was not confined to this temple—not even in Old Testament times—for He was with His people in exile, and He remained with them as He brought them home. It seemed that Cyrus didn’t quite understand the reality that God is God everywhere, for he calls him “the God who is in Jerusalem” (v. 3). Of course, God is in Jerusalem, but more importantly, God is everywhere. God’s presence dwelt with His people even in the land of Persia, where He turned Cyrus’s heart to decree His people’s freedom.

Go Deeper

What did Cyrus not understand about God (see v. 3)? Why does it matter that God rules over all things, including unbelieving kings like Cyrus?

Pray with Us

Heavenly Father, when we feel alone or abandoned, remind us of the truth that You are God everywhere. You are always with us and always see us, no matter where we are.

The LORD, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth.Ezra 1:2

 

 

 

https://www.moodybible.org/