Daily Archives: September 11, 2026

Turning Point

Turning Point; David Jeremiah – Second Chances

Leave a comment

 

NEW!Listen Now

Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah the second time, saying, “Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and preach to it the message that I tell you.” So Jonah arose and went to Nineveh.
Jonah 3:1-3

Recommended Reading: 1 John 1:9

Nineveh was the capital of the Assyrian Empire that conquered the ten northern tribes of Israel and deported many of them in 722 B.C. The Assyrian Empire was known for its massive armies and brutal treatment of conquered peoples and prisoners. When God commissioned Jonah to go to Nineveh to warn them of impending judgment, his fear of what might happen to him at their hands was understandable.

So instead of journeying east to Nineveh, Jonah boarded a ship headed in the opposite direction across the Mediterranean Sea. Jonah represents all who have ignored or disobeyed the will of God and found themselves in a season of discipline. But Jonah also illustrates the fact that God provides second chances for those who are willing to turn around (repent) and submit to His will. After Jonah was rescued from the great fish, he went and preached to Nineveh.

Failure to obey God does not put us beyond God’s grace. He is faithful to forgive and give us new opportunities to serve Him.

Sin forsaken is the best evidence of sin forgiven.
George Jennings Davies

 

 

 

https://www.davidjeremiah.org

Our Daily Bread

Our Daily Bread – Divine Comfort

Leave a comment

 

Weeping may stay for the night, 
but rejoicing comes in the morning. Psalm 30:5

Today’s Scripture

Psalm 30:2-13

Listen to Today’s Devotion

Apple LinkSpotify Link

Today’s Devotion

The sound of the cascading water confirmed that I’d arrived at the 9/11 Memorial Pools in New York City, a place I’d avoided visiting for fear of being overwhelmed by sadness and grief from what took place there that tragic day in 2001. I walked around the two large reflection pools located where the Twin Towers once stood. It was deeply moving to see all the names of those who died etched on the walls—some with roses placed on them by loved ones.

I was in Manhattan on the morning of 9/11 but thankfully not near the World Trade Center. Still, as a native New Yorker, the tragedy hit too close to home. I was finally at Ground Zero, yet I wasn’t overcome by sorrow or fear. I felt peace as I stood there and recalled God’s sustaining grace. That peace was a gift from the God who knows how to comfort us.

As we read the Psalms, we see that David experienced sorrow, fear, and grief as well as divine comfort. In Psalm 30, he writes, “I called to you for help, and you healed me” (v. 2). “Weeping may stay for the night, but rejoicing comes in the morning” (v. 5). God turned David’s “wailing into dancing” and “removed [his] sackcloth and clothed [him] with joy” (v. 11).

When we’re feeling overwhelmed with sorrow, loss, or pain, let’s turn to the God of all comfort, who is close to the brokenhearted, and give thanks to Him as David did: “Lord my God, I will praise you forever” (v. 12).

Reflect & Pray

When have you experienced God’s comfort? How can you receive His comfort today?

Dear God, thank You for Your comfort.

Today’s Insights

Psalm 30 is a psalm of praise for the way God had delivered and healed David (vv. 1-3, 9-11). But as commentators Jacobson and Tanner put it, the psalm isn’t just a psalm of praise, but “a psalm about praise” calling hearers to “a complete life of praise.” It’s God’s merciful and restoring character that gives His people reason to live a life of praise (vv. 4-5). To be abandoned by God would be to be “silenced” (v. 9). But God won’t abandon us and instead comforts us in our sorrow and turns our “wailing into dancing” (v. 11); therefore, we have reason to “praise [Him] forever” (v. 12). Today, when we’re experiencing sorrow and pain, we can praise Him and turn to Him for comfort.

For further study, read: Past Rescure, Present Song

 

 

 

http://www.odb.org

Denison Forum

Denison Forum – Looking back on a world I don’t remember

Leave a comment

 

I was a sophomore in high school when terrorists attacked the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001. I remember sitting in math class when the rumors started to spread that something had happened and just not believing it was true. We spent the rest of the day alternating between teachers who attempted to continue their lessons as planned and those who just turned on the TV to watch the news.

I imagine my experience is pretty similar to a lot of people in my generation. It wasn’t until recently, though, that I realized how different that experience—as well as my understanding of the twenty-five years since—was from the generations above me.

You see, I have vague memories of the world before 9/11, but they’re mostly of basketball games, birthday parties, and other childhood events that seemed consequential to me but far less so to anyone else. I knew the world existed beyond my little bubble, but I understood very little about it. As a result, my view of how the larger world works is almost exclusively born from experiences that came after the terrorists attacked.

Continue reading Denison Forum – Looking back on a world I don’t remember →

Greg Laurie

Harvest Ministries; Greg Laurie – Patient Endurance

Leave a comment

 

 God blesses those who patiently endure testing and temptation. Afterward they will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him. 

—James 1:12

Scripture:

James 1:12 

Several years ago, I was talking with a young woman in a wheelchair and her friend after church. The young woman had a severe disability. As we talked, I asked her, “How are you doing?”

“I’m doing fine,” she told me.

Then her friend explained that the woman had just undergone two brain surgeries to remove cancer and that the operations had been successful.

I looked at this young woman who had just come through such a difficult time and thought, “And where is she now? She’s at church.”

I thought of all the excuses people come up with as to why they can’t make it to church. They have a cold, or it takes too long to get into the parking lot, and so forth. Yet here was this young woman who, despite her life-threatening diagnosis and recent surgeries, was at church, praising God and saying that she was doing fine. I was touched by her example.

I said to her, “You know, the Bible promises a special blessing and crown to those who have suffered in this life. I admire your faith. You’re an inspiration to me.”

In that young woman’s story, we find today’s amazing truth. James 1:12 explains it perfectly: “God blesses those who patiently endure testing and temptation. Afterward they will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him” (NLT).

The first reaction for many people when trials, tribulations, or setbacks occur is to ask, “Why me? Why did God give this burden to me? Why can’t I be as happy or as healthy or as financially secure as other people? Why couldn’t I come from a nurturing, functional family? Why do I have this dark cloud over my head? Why does life have to be so difficult for me?”

These are all understandable questions, but they reveal a shortsighted view of life. Our time on this earth is a mere instant, a blink of the eye, in the big picture of eternity. Certainly, the things that happen in this life have profound implications for eternity. But the things we endure are temporary.

The reality is that God uses trials, tribulations, setbacks, and challenges in people’s lives to accomplish His will. How He does it isn’t always apparent to us. When the apostle Paul asked God to remove an affliction from him, the Lord replied, “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness” (2 Corinthians 12:9 NLT).

That’s why our best response is to patiently endure what God allows in this life. Because our heavenly Father is gracious and generous beyond our imagining, our patient endurance through these temporary challenges and struggles will be rewarded for eternity.

 

Reflection question: What would patient endurance look like in your life?Discuss this with believers like you on Harvest Discipleship!

 

 

 

Harvest.org | Greg Laurie

Days of Praise

Days of Praise – Evil Men

Leave a comment

 

by Henry M. Morris III, D.Min.

“Fret not thyself because of evil men, neither be thou envious at the wicked; for there shall be no reward to the evil man; the candle of the wicked shall be put out.” (Proverbs 24:19–20)

Many of us remember the horror of September 11, 2001. The United States had not been attacked on its continental soil since the Civil War, and the whole country stood glued to their TV sets in stunned agony at the evil atrocity of the terrorists’ hostility.

Loud and often have been the vows of retribution since then, but “wars and rumours of wars” continue unabated (Mark 13:7). Nothing (according to the Scriptures) will stop the hatred of evil men against that which represents the name and lifestyle of the Lord Jesus (John 15:18), but the vengeance belongs to God alone (Hebrews 10:30).

The challenge for most of us is that we forget that the enemy is not merely this or that terrorist group (there have been countless such groups over the millennia), but “the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour” (1 Peter 5:8). If we are constantly in turmoil over the latest iteration of evil displayed in living color every day on our evening news, our souls will never gain peace.

It is the “joy of the LORD” that brings us strength (Nehemiah 8:10). It is the delight of being “rich in good works, ready to distribute, willing to communicate” that allows us to sense something of the unilateral love of the Lord Jesus (1 Timothy 6:18). Seeking “the kingdom of God, and his righteousness” first is what brings our heavenly Father’s steadfast supply of all that we may need (Matthew 6:33; Philippians 4:19).

Perhaps when evil days creep into our lives or our memory, we would do well to focus our “affection on things above, not on things on the earth” (Colossians 3:2). HMM III

 

 

 

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

Joyce Meyer

Joyce Meyer – The Holy Spirit Helps Us Do What We Should Do

Leave a comment

 

For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.

Romans 7:19-20 (NIV)

We have everything we need to live the life God wants us to live (2 Peter 1:3), but we must learn to follow the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Once we are born again, we may sometimes feel we are two people, and at times we do what we don’t want to do—and we don’t do what we do want to do. We see in today’s scripture that this also happened to the apostle Paul, and we know there is hope for us. Even after we become Christians, we can still do the wrong things we have always done, but the good news is that we also have the ability to do the right things, and the Holy Spirit will help us. We are no longer slaves to sin (Romans 6:6 NIV).

Galatians 5:16 does not say “Try not to walk in the flesh so you can walk in the Spirit,” which is what most of us do. It says that if we walk in the Spirit, we will not fulfill the lusts of the flesh. In other words, if we focus on doing the right things, there will be no room for the wrong things. When we focus on the positive, we will have victory. In relationships, if we focus on everything we find wrong with the other person, we will not be able to love them. But if we focus on what is good in them, we will soon pay little attention to what we don’t like as much.

Prayer of the Day: Holy Spirit, help me focus on walking with You and to focus on Your Spirit, rather than the struggle. Thank You for giving me the power to do what’s right today and every day, amen.

 

 

http://www.joycemeyer.org

Max Lucado

Max Lucado – Hear the Voice of God

Leave a comment

 

Play

Immediately after the Mount Carmel experience, Elijah instructed Ahab, “Go, eat and drink, for there is the sound of a heavy rain” (1 Kings 18:41 NIV). But then we read that the sky was cloudless. How do we explain his announcement? I found the answer in the Hebrew word that is translated sound. Elijah was choosing to hear God’s covenant and disregard the circumstances.

The circumstances: the silent sky, the blazing sun, dearth of clouds. The promise of God, the words spoken to Elijah, said, “Pull out your umbrella.” Elijah chose to hear the “voice” of God’s promise.

What about us? Multiple times each day, we choose the message we follow. Are we reeling from the problems, or are we standing on God’s promises?

 

 

 

Home

Today in the Word

Today in the Word – Moody Bible Institute – Read the Instructions

Leave a comment

 

Read Ezra 3:4–6

There are two types of people in the world—people who read the instructions before trying to assemble furniture, and others who plunge right in. I guess there’s also a third type: people like me who give up before starting.

In Ezra 3:4–6 we learn that God’s people were the “read the instructions first” type, at least when it came to what was truly important—worshiping the Lord in the way He wanted to be worshiped. We read that they “celebrated the Festival of Tabernacles” “in accordance with what is written” (v. 4). The author goes on to tell us that they presented “the required number of burnt offerings prescribed for each day” (v. 4). After that, “they presented the regular burnt offerings, the New Moon sacrifices and the sacrifices for all the appointed sacred festivals of the LORD, as well as those brought as freewill offerings to the LORD” (v. 5).

Why spend so much space outlining exactly how God’s people obeyed when He could have left it at “in accordance with what is written”? It’s because the author wants to drive home the point that the returned exiles obeyed completely. They followed God’s prescriptions for sacrifice to the letter. Complete obedience matters, especially for these people who had just returned from a seven-decades-long exile due to their lack of obedience.

This section ends with a summary statement about the people’s sacrifices: “On the first day of the seventh month they began to offer burnt offerings to the LORD.” And it ends by saying they did all of this even “though the foundation of the LORD’s temple had not yet been laid” (v. 6). God’s people had their priorities in order. They built the altar and began to worship God rightly. And they did all of that first, before they’d even begun work on the temple’s foundation.

Go Deeper

How good are you at reading and following God’s directions? Is there an area where you are not following God completely?

Pray with Us

Father, You have outlined how we are to live in Your Word. Help us follow Your commands completely. We do not want to cut corners when obedience feels difficult.

If you love me, keep my commands.John 14:15

 

 

 

https://www.moodybible.org/