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Now I beg you, brethren, through the Lord Jesus Christ, and through the love of the Spirit, that you strive together with me in prayers to God for me.
Romans 15:30

Recommended Reading: Romans 15:23-32

One of Paul’s biggest ministry projects was collecting funds for the persecuted church in Jerusalem. Second Corinthians 8–9 recount Paul’s encouragement to the churches in Achaia and Macedonia to give toward the Jerusalem fund and his coordination of his fellow workers who would be in charge of collecting the funds before meeting up with Paul.

On his way to Jerusalem Paul met with church leaders from Ephesus. He expressed concern about the dangers of visiting Jerusalem, but his only concern was finishing the work God had given him to do (Acts 20:22-24). Prior to stopping to meet with them, Paul wrote to the church at Rome with a promise to visit them as soon as possible. In his letter is evidence of the magnitude of the work he was doing—work that needed prayers to God (Romans 15:23-30). There it is—the blending of work for God and being dependent on God for the work to succeed.

Whatever work you are doing for God, never lose your dependence on God for success.

In an effort to get the work of the Lord done, we often lose contact with the Lord of the work.
A. W. Tozer

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Whoever is of a willing heart, let him bring it as an offering to the Lord: gold, silver, and bronze.
Exodus 35:5

Recommended Reading: Exodus 35:4-9

During the offering a boy pulled a dollar from his pocket for the offering plate. The man behind him tapped his shoulder and handed him a twenty-dollar bill. The boy was perplexed, but he dropped the twenty into the plate too. Afterward, the boy asked the man about it. The man said, “That was your twenty. It fell out of your pocket when you pulled out the dollar.” The boy had put $21 into the collection plate, but he only got credit in heaven for one!

We can often do better when it comes to our tithes and offerings. Some people see them as a necessary evil so the church can pay its bills. But tithing is a spiritual reality, just like reading the Bible, praying, and witnessing. It enhances our spiritual growth, maturity, and poise. It curbs our bent toward materialism. It helps express our worship, and it funds the work of God around the world.

Don’t be afraid to be generous with the Lord. Give with a willing heart.

We should be guided in all our works by this one thought alone—that we may serve and benefit others in everything that is done.
Martin Luther

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So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver.
2 Corinthians 9:7

Recommended Reading: Ecclesiastes 3:9-15

Are you cheerful today? Joseph Addison said, “Cheerfulness keeps up a kind of daylight in the mind, and fills it with a steady and perpetual serenity.” Perhaps Addison was inspired by Proverbs 15:15: “All the days of the oppressed are wretched, but the cheerful heart has a continual feast” (NIV). We should ask the Lord to help us obey the words of Jesus in Matthew 9:2: “Be of good cheer.” A cheerful heart brings a brightness to our faces—and to our finances. When we’re cheerful, our world is happier, and that includes the world of our giving.

Oh, thank God that He gives to us so that we, in turn, can give to others! What a joy! What a privilege! What an opportunity to lay up treasure in heaven. All we have is from Him, and we give Him simply that which is His own.

The famous Bible commentator John Gill said that a cheerful giver is one who gives freely and with a pleasant countenance. Our gifts to God should all be given with smiles!

A cheerful heart is an anchor in the storm and a lamp in the night.
Unknown

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For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life.
Galatians 6:8

Recommended Reading: Galatians 5:16-18

Think about all the gifts and abilities found in the human race: creativity, industriousness, entrepreneurship, managerial ability, leadership, generosity, and many more. Some invest their gifts in the Kingdom of God, while others invest in the kingdom of this world. The difference in using one’s gifts for oneself rather than for God is what the New Testament refers to as sowing to the flesh versus sowing to the Spirit. “Flesh” doesn’t necessarily mean “evil”; it basically refers to the priority of self above all—whether for good or evil. Choosing self over God is called sowing to the flesh.

The New Testament is also clear about the outcomes of sowing to the flesh versus sowing to the Spirit. The former leads to “corruption”—meaning eternal separation from God—while the latter leads to eternal life with God. “For if you live according to the flesh you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live” (Romans 8:13).

Ask yourself daily: Am I living today for myself or for Christ?

The wisdom of the flesh is always exclaiming against the mysteries of God.
John Calvin

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Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap.
Galatians 6:7

Recommended Reading: Matthew 13:18-23

Jesus identified one of His parables as the key to understanding all the parables (Mark 4:13). The parable was the one dealing with soils, seeds, and sowing. The seed is “the word of the kingdom” (Matthew 13:19), and the soil is the heart into which the seed is sown. If the heart is receptive, the seed can bear fruit thirtyfold, sixtyfold, or a hundredfold (verse 23).

Jesus’ focus in the parable was on the soil (the heart). The better the condition of the heart, the more abundant will be the spiritual harvest. The apostle Paul wrote that our harvest will be commensurate with our sowing (Galatians 6:7). Sow sparingly, and you will reap sparingly. Sow bountifully, and you will reap bountifully (2 Corinthians 9:6). When we sow the Word of God into our heart, the spiritual fruit in our life will depend on the amount of seed sown and the condition of our heart.

Jesus identified this parable as important for a reason: that we might keep our heart prepared to receive as much of the Word as possible.

As seed is made for soil and soil for seed, so the heart is made for God’s truth and God’s truth for the heart. 
Richard Glover

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See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil.
Ephesians 5:15-16

Recommended Reading: Colossians 4:5

This proverb arose in the fourteenth century: “Time and tide wait for no man.” Tide suggests the rising and falling of the ocean’s tides. But in early English tide referred to seasons or periods of time (think yuletide referring to Christmas). So the proverb might best be understood as “Time and seasons wait for no man.”

The point of the proverb is obvious: Time is an unrelenting reality that cannot be stopped, delayed, reversed, lengthened, or shortened. As you are reading this devotional, the clock of your life is ticking. You are closer to the completion of your time on earth at this moment than you were when you woke up this morning. So when Paul wrote, “[Redeem] the time,” he was conscious of the precious nature of time. We should take advantage of every day, month, and year and treat them as gifts of God. We should use our time wisely, knowing we will never get back time that has passed.

Prayerfully consider how you can best use the coming year. Once passed, it can never be replaced.

If you die wrong the first time, you cannot come back to die better a second time.
Robert Murray M’Cheyne

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Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven.
Matthew 6:19-20

Recommended Reading: Philippians 3:17-21

In 2013, a hard drive belonging to a man in Wales was accidentally thrown away and ended up in a landfill. The man quickly realized the mistake. But he has been unable to retrieve the hard drive, which contained the digital keys necessary to access his investment in cryptocurrency which, as of today, is worth almost $800 million! Sadly, this is irredeemable by him without the digital keys on the discarded hard drive, and so far, the courts have refused to allow him to dig up the landfill or buy it outright. His treasure remains lost.

Jesus warned His followers about accumulating treasures on earth where moths, rust, and thieves—and lost hard drives—can result in those treasures being destroyed. Instead, He advised accumulating a different kind of treasure—treasures in heaven that will last forever. Since we are citizens of heaven (Philippians 3:20), we should accumulate our treasures there.

Only two things on earth will last forever: souls and the Word of God. Investments made in those will become treasures in heaven.

We must read our Bibles, like men digging for hidden treasure.
J. C. Ryle

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Arise, go to Zarephath…. See, I have commanded a widow there to provide for you.
1 Kings 17:9

Recommended Reading: 1 Kings 17:8-16

Last year, Deputy Ignacio Diaz died in a crash in Palm Beach County, Florida. A nearby boy Charlie Allsup wanted to do something, so he set up a lemonade stand to raise money for Diaz’s family. When Fox News asked Charlie why he had done this, he replied, “I just saw a need and I just thought that is what Jesus would do. I thought I could help.”6

Our giving to the Lord is just about as simple as that! Have you noticed that many of the biblical characters who did the most are the ones who had the least? The classic example is the widow who gave her two mites in Mark 12:41-44. But think also of people like the widow of Zarephath who gave her bit of bread to Elijah (1 Kings 17:8-16), and Dorcas, the woman of Joppa, who was “full of good works and charitable deeds” (Acts 9:36).

You don’t have to be rich to richly bless others. The Bible tells us to “be rich in good works, ready to give, willing to share” (1 Timothy 6:18). How can you practice that principle today?

Our gifts are not to be measured by the amount we contribute, but by the surplus kept in our own hand.
Charles Spurgeon

1. “Florida Nine-Year-Old Opens Lemonade Stand to Pay Tuition for Fallen Officer’s Son,” Fox News, December 7, 2024.

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And He said to them, “Take heed and beware of covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of the things he possesses.”
Luke 12:15

Recommended Reading: Luke 12:13-21

Actress Shannen Doherty who passed away from stage 4 breast cancer once said that her battle with cancer had changed her perspective on her physical possessions. She told People magazine she accumulated a lot of antiques, but they were sitting in storage. “I’m not enjoying it and others aren’t enjoying it, and do I really need any of it? Do I need to have three dining room tables? The answer is no, none of us really need all the stuff that we have.”¹

We’re living at a time ancient kings couldn’t conceive. A time when inventions, devices, technologies, and new products are coming at us on a daily basis. How do we keep our perspective? When we give the first ten percent or more of our income to the Lord, it helps us find balance.

The best way to deal with materialism is by tithing. Giving God the first ten percent of our income is a way of showing Him that He is our priority, not the things we possess.

There is nothing wrong with me possessing riches. The wrong comes when riches possess men.
Billy Graham

1. Esme Mazzeo, “Shannen Doherty Shared How She Was Preparing to Die and Her Wishes for Her Funeral Before Her Death,” People, July 15, 2024.

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He who loves silver will not be satisfied with silver; nor he who loves abundance, with increase. This also is vanity.
Ecclesiastes 5:10

Recommended Reading: 1 Timothy 6:6-10

In 2010, Microsoft cofounder, Bill Gates, and his (then) wife, partnered with investor Warren Buffett to create the Giving Pledge. So far, more than 250 individuals or families from 30 countries—nearly all billionaires—have signed the pledge to give away at least half their wealth to charitable causes by the end of their life.

We don’t know the amount of wealth possessed by King Solomon at the end of his life, but while he was king of Israel, he may have been the world’s wealthiest individual. But near the end of his life he admitted that the accumulation of wealth does not satisfy. Indeed, he called such a pursuit “vanity.” The apostle Paul warned against the love of money, calling it the “root of all kinds of evil” (1 Timothy 6:10). Not money, but the love of money. Instead, he recommended pursuing “godliness with contentment,” calling it “great gain” (verse 6).

Instead of seeking security and personal affirmation in the size of your wealth, find contentment in your eternal relationship with the Lord.

A lack of generosity refuses to acknowledge that your assets are not really yours, but God’s.
Timothy Keller

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And [Christ] is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have the preeminence.
Colossians 1:18

Recommended Reading: Colossians 2:16-19

Modern medicine has succeeded in transplanting many critical parts of the human body: liver, kidney, lung, heart, and others. But there has never been a successful transplant of the head, either in humans or animals. For both medical and ethical reasons, replacing one head with another has proved too challenging. The head is the seat of the brain—the control center which directs the movement of the body.

Another head-body union which will never be altered is that between Jesus Christ and the Church. The New Testament uses the analogy of the human body to illustrate the relationship between Christ, the Head, and Christians, the members of the Body (the Church) (1 Corinthians 12:12-27; Ephesians 5:23-24). Just as the human body responds to directions which flow from the head, so the Church should respond to directions which flow from its Head. As Paul notes in Colossians 1:18, Christ as “the head of the body, the church” should “have the preeminence.”

When you need wisdom, guidance, or strength, turn first to the Head of the Church—and allow Him to have preeminence in your life.

What is this Christ to us?… Is He our head, to fill us with vitality, to inspire and to command?
Alexander MacLaren

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January 10, 2026

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To everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven.
Ecclesiastes 3:1

Recommended Reading: Isaiah 40:28-31

A music trivia question: Which number one hit song has the distinction of containing the oldest lyrics? The answer is “Turn! Turn! Turn!” released by the folk-rock group The Byrds in 1962. The song was originally written by Pete Seeger in 1959 using—almost exclusively—the words of Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 which were written by King Solomon in the tenth century B.C.

While Seeger originally wrote the song as a protest anthem—“A time of war, and a time of peace” (Ecclesiastes 3:8)—Solomon’s motivation in writing his words was different. Solomon’s words were like those in Psalm 31:14-15: “I trust in You, O Lord…. My times are in Your hand.” Solomon wrote Ecclesiastes while looking back on his life filled with momentous challenges and events. His perspective was one of patience, of trust in God’s plan and timetable. There is a time for everything that God has ordained. Our challenge is to wait on the Lord and His timing to be revealed (Isaiah 40:31).

You no doubt have plans for the coming year. Solomon would say, “Wait on the Lord; submit your plans to God. There is a time for everything.”

To wait on God is to live a life of desire toward Him.
Matthew Henry

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For by [Christ] all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him.
Colossians 1:16

Recommended Reading: John 1:1-3

Any attempt to take away a favorite food or toy from a toddler may be met with a stern look and a firm, “Mine!” Even at a young age, the rights of ownership seem to be built in.

The fallacy of the two-year-old’s thinking is that nothing is “Mine!” Everything is part of creation and, therefore, the property of the Creator, Jesus Christ. He created everything in heaven and on earth; every earthly ruler is subject to the Ruler of all. “All things were created through Him and for Him.” With these words the apostle Paul echoed the words of Psalm 2 where the Davidic Messiah-King would be given the nations and all the earth as His possession. Kings and rulers are warned to be wise and submit to Him in fear and trembling. But not just kings—the same warning applies to us.

As part of creation, we are bound to recognize Christ as Lord of our lives. Recommit yourself today to His lordship in your life.

Christianity . . . is a bowing of the knee to the lordship of Christ.
Frederick R. Wood

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Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.
Luke 6:38, NIV

Recommended Reading: Luke 6:37-42

Glenn Morison, a Canadian Christian, wrote in his church-related paper, “I’ve never met a person who tithes who is unhappy doing so!”¹

We have a God who has promised to meet our needs as we cooperate with Him in our finances, worshiping Him with the first part of our income. We’re told that as we honor God with our possessions and the first part of our income, our “barns will be filled with plenty, and [our] vats will overflow with new wine” (Proverbs 3:9-10). We’re told our Lord will open to us the windows of heaven and pour out abundant blessings on us (Malachi 3:10).

When we don’t put God first in our giving, we are admitting that we don’t believe He will do what He says He will do—supply all our needs. Today rest in the assurance that God will provide.

Both the idea of tithing and the opportunity to tithe is a gift, and for me, it is a gift that God wanted me to have.
Glenn Morison

1. Glenn Morison, “The Joy of Tithing,” Friends Journal, January 1, 2025.

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And not only as we had hoped, but they first gave themselves to the Lord, and then to us by the will of God.
2 Corinthians 8:5

Recommended Reading: 2 Corinthians 8:1-7

One day when twelve-year-old David Grant went with his father to a church service, a missionary named Charles Greenaway made an appeal for Christ. When the ushers later passed the offering plate, young David put it on the floor and stepped in it. The Lord seemed to say to him, “David, you will go to India.” In the decades that followed, David Grant had a powerful missionary career.¹

We all need to step into the offering plate, at least in a figurative sense. Paul commended the churches of Macedonia for more than just giving to the offering he was collecting for the poverty-stricken Jews of Judea. The Macedonians first gave themselves to the Lord.

Before we give our resources to God, we must first give ourselves, recognizing that we belong to God and that all we have is already His. Why don’t you take a stand for Christ by offering to Him all you are and have. Each day ask God to navigate your path.

When the Holy Spirit passes the offering plate, step in…. God is not so much interested in your money; He’s interested in you.
David Grant

1. George P. Wood, “The Boy Who Gave Himself to God,” U.S. Missions, September 17, 2021.

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And this stone which I have set as a pillar shall be God’s house, and of all that You give me I will surely give a tenth to you.
Genesis 28:22

Recommended Reading: Genesis 28:16-22

Samantha Dobbins wrote in the newsletter of her South Carolina church how she and her husband had a new baby but very little income. They were discouraged searching for a job. One Sunday as she sat in church, Samantha felt the Lord whisper to her, “If you tithe, I will provide.” On a whim, she wrote a “tiny little tithe check.” The very next day a friend called her husband and offered him a job that grew into a successful career.¹

In the book of Genesis, Jacob had been a despicable scoundrel until he encountered God at Bethel in Genesis 28. That’s when his life began to change. He had a long way to go, and his story had ups and downs. But from the beginning he committed to giving God a tenth of his income, just as his grandfather Abraham had done in Genesis 14:20.

When we put God first and tithe, we can trust Him to lead us, provide for us, and bless us in unexpected ways.

I don’t even have to think about giving anymore. It’s just something I want to do now, and I can’t explain that.
Samantha Dobbins

1. “How Giving a Little Turned Into a Whole Lot More,” Newspring Church.

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You shall take some of the first of all the produce of the ground … and put it in a basket and go to the place where the Lord your God chooses to make His name abide.
Deuteronomy 26:2

Recommended Reading: Colossians 1:15-18

If you’ve ever grown a vegetable garden, you know the joy of picking the first ripe tomatoes from the vine or boiling the first young potatoes. In biblical times farmers would take some of their earliest harvests and present it as an offering to the Lord. They knew He was the one who made the soil and seed, who sent the sunshine and rain, and who gave them the ability to farm the land.

In the same way, we need to become aware that all we are and all we have comes from the Lord. We should give Him of our best. When we put Him first in terms of our money and time, He blesses all the rest. When we cease to put Him first, things don’t prosper in our lives as they should.

Colossians 1:18 says, “In all things He may have the preeminence.”
Are you putting the Lord first in all things?

The secret to living for God is to put Christ first in every decision … every food choice … every sexual choice … every entertainment choice … every choice of friends … everything.
Elmer Towns

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If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him.
James 1:5

Recommended Reading: 1 Kings 3:6-14

At the beginning of King Solomon’s reign over Israel, God appeared to him in a dream and told him to ask for whatever he wanted. Solomon asked God for a discerning heart in order to govern the multitudes of people over whom he now reigned. So God responded, “I have given you a wise and understanding heart” (1 Kings 3:12). Solomon’s wisdom became his defining characteristic.

One wonders if the apostle James had Solomon’s request in mind when he encouraged his readers to ask God for wisdom when needed (James 1:5). As you begin a new year, it’s easy to imagine areas in which wisdom might be needed: personal issues, family matters, financial decisions, job prospects, and more. James likely had in mind the Hebrew notion of wisdom which was “skill” (Hebrew chokmah). When we ask God for wisdom, we are asking Him for skill to navigate a challenging situation. Thankfully, He will give generously and without criticizing.

Whether wisdom (skill) for a day or a year, ask God—He will give “liberally and without reproach.”

The heavens declare Thy glory, Lord; in every star Thy wisdom shines. 
Isaac Watts

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Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered.
Psalm 32:1

Recommended Reading: Psalm 51:7-12

While we celebrate the uniqueness of every individual created in the image of God, there is one way in which all humans are alike. We have all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23). That means we have all experienced what happens when we do things we know we shouldn’t. We all experience the guilt, shame, and remorse that comes with disappointing ourselves, others, and especially disappointing God.

What would our lives be like if there was no way to remove the consequences of our failures? Guilt and shame would multiply and lead us to a life of despair. The Good News of the Gospel of Jesus Christ is that our sins can be forgiven and we can have a clear conscience. “The Lord has laid on [Christ] the iniquity of us all” (Isaiah 53:6). “If we confess our sins, [God] is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9). Those who have received God’s gift of forgiveness through faith in Christ can live a life of freedom from guilt and shame.

Experience today the blessing of God’s forgiveness for all your sins—past, present, and future.

Forgiveness is to be set loose from sins.
G. Campbell Morgan

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Exercise yourself toward godliness. For bodily exercise profits a little, but godliness is profitable for all things, having promise of the life that now is and of that which is to come.
1 Timothy 4:7-8

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Recommended Reading: 1 Timothy 4:6-11

You might think losing weight would be our top New Year’s resolution. But according to a 2024 YouGov survey, “saving more money” topped the list, followed by improving physical health, being happy, exercising more, eating healthier, and in sixth place, losing weight.¹ The survey listed 23 top New Year’s resolutions, but one item wasn’t mentioned at all—exercising toward godliness.

It was at the top of Paul’s list, but exactly how do we do it? Well, let’s try increasing the repetitions of lifting our Bibles, flexing our faith muscles, and pressing forward in conditioning our souls to run the race before us with perseverance.

Perhaps the first step is finding a place for your daily time of personal Bible study. A small table or desk in a quiet corner, a workplace by the window, or a chair with a lap tray or swing-away tray. When you have a dedicated place for your quiet time, you can leave your Bible open there all day. That’s a good first step toward exercising yourself in godliness.

Your priorities must be God first, God second, and God third, until your life is continually face-to-face with God.
Oswald Chambers

1. Jamie Ballard, “What Are Americans’ New Year’s Resolutions for 2024?” YouGov, December 21, 2023.

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