August 19: The Cost of Comfort
#Devotional
Isaiah 39:1–40:31; Luke 14:1–35; Job 9:12–19
“ ‘[You all] comfort; comfort my people,’ says your God. ‘Speak to the heart of Jerusalem, and call to her, that her compulsory labor is fulfilled, that her sin is paid for, that she has received from the hand of Yahweh double for all her sins’ ” (Isa 40:1–2). God directed this command at the prophet and a group of people—possibly all those remaining in Israel. They were to speak comfort to the exiled Israelites, to call them home again.
Sometimes we feel the need for this kind of comfort. Like the prodigal son in the pig sty, we feel exiled and alone; we have paid our sentence, and we want to go home. We’re not even asking for joy—just comfort. Despite their sins, God responded to the Israelites. But God did not merely restore them to their former state. He sent the Suffering Servant, prophesied later in Isaiah (Isa 52:13–53:12), to die on behalf of the people, to pay for the sins that resulted in exile in the first place. God does this so that all our sins—past, present and future—might be paid once and for all.
But God requires much from those to whom much has been given, which is all of us. The great news of the Suffering Servant, Jesus, is not only that we find comfort and peace in Him, but also that we are empowered to act—free from sin. As Jesus’ disciples, we must live the way that He has called us to live, being willing to make the sacrifices that discipleship requires (e.g., Luke 14:25–35).
The grace we receive from God is free, but a great price was paid for it. We must live fully in it. We must embrace it with our entire being. For when we do, we become not just a comforted people, but a restored people, instruments of God’s work in the world.
What is God calling you to sacrifice? How can you take joy in the comfort He has brought you, and then show others that joy?
#Devotional
Isaiah 39:1–40:31; Luke 14:1–35; Job 9:12–19
“ ‘[You all] comfort; comfort my people,’ says your God. ‘Speak to the heart of Jerusalem, and call to her, that her compulsory labor is fulfilled, that her sin is paid for, that she has received from the hand of Yahweh double for all her sins’ ” (Isa 40:1–2). God directed this command at the prophet and a group of people—possibly all those remaining in Israel. They were to speak comfort to the exiled Israelites, to call them home again.
Sometimes we feel the need for this kind of comfort. Like the prodigal son in the pig sty, we feel exiled and alone; we have paid our sentence, and we want to go home. We’re not even asking for joy—just comfort. Despite their sins, God responded to the Israelites. But God did not merely restore them to their former state. He sent the Suffering Servant, prophesied later in Isaiah (Isa 52:13–53:12), to die on behalf of the people, to pay for the sins that resulted in exile in the first place. God does this so that all our sins—past, present and future—might be paid once and for all.
But God requires much from those to whom much has been given, which is all of us. The great news of the Suffering Servant, Jesus, is not only that we find comfort and peace in Him, but also that we are empowered to act—free from sin. As Jesus’ disciples, we must live the way that He has called us to live, being willing to make the sacrifices that discipleship requires (e.g., Luke 14:25–35).
The grace we receive from God is free, but a great price was paid for it. We must live fully in it. We must embrace it with our entire being. For when we do, we become not just a comforted people, but a restored people, instruments of God’s work in the world.
What is God calling you to sacrifice? How can you take joy in the comfort He has brought you, and then show others that joy?
August 19 - Marks of the True Believer
#LifeOfChrist
“‘They put new wine into fresh wineskins, and both are preserved’” (Matthew 9:17b).
Like new wine poured into fresh wineskins, everything stays spiritually fresh for the true believer. First, he or she leads a life of unquestioning obedience and follows the Lord without conditions or excuses. Not long before His ascension, Jesus told Peter, “‘Follow Me!’ Peter, turning around, saw the disciple whom Jesus loved following them . . . So Peter seeing him said to Jesus, ‘Lord, and what about this man?’ Jesus said to him, ‘If I want him to remain until I come, what is that to you? You follow Me!’” (John 21:19–22). Christians don’t question Christ’s will or unwisely compare themselves to other believers.
Second, like Matthew who invited sinners to his house to see Jesus, true saints have compassion on the unsaved. They want to see them saved, even though at times that desire gets supplanted by selfish concerns. Because they know “the fear of the Lord, [they] persuade men” (2 Cor. 5:11). The love of Christ will prompt them to witness to others (v. 14).
Finally, if we are truly Christ’s children, we will not follow any sort of legalism or ritualism as the scribes and Pharisees did. We’ll realize soon enough that these are utterly incompatible with the new life in Jesus Christ. It should also be clear to us that what was begun in the Spirit cannot be finished in the flesh (Gal. 3:3). The new wine of salvation and sanctification has no place back in the old wineskins of our life before conversion.
Ask Yourself
Is your life devoid of some of these freedoms? Does your heart often—or perhaps incessantly—cause Christian faith to feel as though it’s just another burden or pressure rather than the pure expression of who you are? What’s standing between you and abundant life?
#LifeOfChrist
“‘They put new wine into fresh wineskins, and both are preserved’” (Matthew 9:17b).
Like new wine poured into fresh wineskins, everything stays spiritually fresh for the true believer. First, he or she leads a life of unquestioning obedience and follows the Lord without conditions or excuses. Not long before His ascension, Jesus told Peter, “‘Follow Me!’ Peter, turning around, saw the disciple whom Jesus loved following them . . . So Peter seeing him said to Jesus, ‘Lord, and what about this man?’ Jesus said to him, ‘If I want him to remain until I come, what is that to you? You follow Me!’” (John 21:19–22). Christians don’t question Christ’s will or unwisely compare themselves to other believers.
Second, like Matthew who invited sinners to his house to see Jesus, true saints have compassion on the unsaved. They want to see them saved, even though at times that desire gets supplanted by selfish concerns. Because they know “the fear of the Lord, [they] persuade men” (2 Cor. 5:11). The love of Christ will prompt them to witness to others (v. 14).
Finally, if we are truly Christ’s children, we will not follow any sort of legalism or ritualism as the scribes and Pharisees did. We’ll realize soon enough that these are utterly incompatible with the new life in Jesus Christ. It should also be clear to us that what was begun in the Spirit cannot be finished in the flesh (Gal. 3:3). The new wine of salvation and sanctification has no place back in the old wineskins of our life before conversion.
Ask Yourself
Is your life devoid of some of these freedoms? Does your heart often—or perhaps incessantly—cause Christian faith to feel as though it’s just another burden or pressure rather than the pure expression of who you are? What’s standing between you and abundant life?
Every headline eventually becomes history. Every trend eventually dies. Every nation eventually changes.
But Christ still reigns.
Keep your eyes higher than today's news cycle.
But Christ still reigns.
Keep your eyes higher than today's news cycle.
If you found out that your pastor's sermon was AI-generated, how would you react?
❤2🙊2
Good morning and happy Saturday, brothers and sisters. This is your morning reminder to dig into Scripture. Sit at the feet of the Master. Hunger for the words and guidance of Christ.
Complaining about a silent God while our Bibles are closed is like complaining about not getting texts while your phones is turned off.
❤7
WEEK 3 — Suffering, Healing & Presence
Dear Daughter,
The man at Bethesda waited thirty-eight years by water that never healed him — until Presence walked by and asked one question.
Sometimes what your marriage needs isn't a method. It's an encounter.
Stop circling the same pool. Invite Him in.
'Do you want to be healed?' (John 5:6).
What healing have you been waiting on a method for, instead of a Person?
#DearDaughter #InvitePresence #StrongMarriage
Dear Daughter,
The man at Bethesda waited thirty-eight years by water that never healed him — until Presence walked by and asked one question.
Sometimes what your marriage needs isn't a method. It's an encounter.
Stop circling the same pool. Invite Him in.
'Do you want to be healed?' (John 5:6).
What healing have you been waiting on a method for, instead of a Person?
#DearDaughter #InvitePresence #StrongMarriage
I've come to terms and accepted, that we are in the last days, in turn, I love my loved ones more than ever and thankful to God, our times are in His hands, He is worthy of our trust, and to the very end.
❤2
Kindness is a language every marriage understands! 💌❤️ Speak it generously today! Eph 4:32 🌿
What small kindness will you show? #StrongMarriage #August
What small kindness will you show? #StrongMarriage #August
❤2
The signs of the end are everywhere, Jesus Christ is returning soon.
❤1
God created the entire universe in six literal, 24-hour days according to Genesis 1.
The word structure (morning and evening) confirms it, the original Hebrew confirms it, other verses confirm it (such as Ex. 20:9-11 and Mark 10:6-8), and science continues to confirm it.
The word structure (morning and evening) confirms it, the original Hebrew confirms it, other verses confirm it (such as Ex. 20:9-11 and Mark 10:6-8), and science continues to confirm it.
❤1
I will build My church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.
Matthew 16:18
There is a divine plan, a plan that cannot be broken.
Matthew 16:18
There is a divine plan, a plan that cannot be broken.
❤2
Three lies the world wants you to believe:
• You should follow your own heart
• Truth is whatever you want it to be
• There are many ways to reach Heaven
The Bible stands in stark contrast to all of these claims.
• You should follow your own heart
• Truth is whatever you want it to be
• There are many ways to reach Heaven
The Bible stands in stark contrast to all of these claims.
💯1
“Preach Christ to the careless sinner, by reasoning ‘of righteousness, temperance, and judgment to come’!” —John Wesley
❤4
Christian, do not let the world define your purpose. Your primary calling is to glorify God and enjoy him forever. "Set your minds on things above" (Col. 3:2).
🔥5
August 20: The Pursuit of Failures
#Devotional
Isaiah 41:1–42:9; Luke 15:1–32; Job 9:20–24
Often, when we focus too much on our own failures, we don’t reach the point where grace changes us. That’s why the parable of the Prodigal Son is so comforting for people who are caught up and brought down by their failures. In this parable it’s not the younger son’s humility or the elder brother’s jealousy in the limelight. It’s the father’s pursuit of both his sons.
After living selfishly and squandering his inheritance, the younger son realized how foolish his actions had been. He realized that even his father’s hired hands received more love and attention than he had received after leaving his father’s house. Deciding to plead for mercy, the younger son rehearsed his request to the father: “I will set out and go to my father and will say to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight! I am no longer worthy to be called your son! Make me like one of your hired workers.’ ” (Luke 15:18–19).
But his plan was interrupted. Before the son even finished his request, his father kissed him, put a robe around his neck, and ordered the fattened calf to be killed. And then the father repeated this action. When the elder son refused to attend the party in his brother’s honor, the father again went out to meet his son, imploring him to rejoice as well (Luke 15:28, 31–32).
God pursues failures of all types. It’s His grace extended to us that works in our hearts to prompt change in us. Even when we neglect Him, He pursues us. Even when we don’t return His attentions, He pursues us. Instead of focusing on our failures, then, we should focus on His love.
How do you take joy in God’s grace to you through His Son? How does His love change the way you relate to Him?
#Devotional
Isaiah 41:1–42:9; Luke 15:1–32; Job 9:20–24
Often, when we focus too much on our own failures, we don’t reach the point where grace changes us. That’s why the parable of the Prodigal Son is so comforting for people who are caught up and brought down by their failures. In this parable it’s not the younger son’s humility or the elder brother’s jealousy in the limelight. It’s the father’s pursuit of both his sons.
After living selfishly and squandering his inheritance, the younger son realized how foolish his actions had been. He realized that even his father’s hired hands received more love and attention than he had received after leaving his father’s house. Deciding to plead for mercy, the younger son rehearsed his request to the father: “I will set out and go to my father and will say to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight! I am no longer worthy to be called your son! Make me like one of your hired workers.’ ” (Luke 15:18–19).
But his plan was interrupted. Before the son even finished his request, his father kissed him, put a robe around his neck, and ordered the fattened calf to be killed. And then the father repeated this action. When the elder son refused to attend the party in his brother’s honor, the father again went out to meet his son, imploring him to rejoice as well (Luke 15:28, 31–32).
God pursues failures of all types. It’s His grace extended to us that works in our hearts to prompt change in us. Even when we neglect Him, He pursues us. Even when we don’t return His attentions, He pursues us. Instead of focusing on our failures, then, we should focus on His love.
How do you take joy in God’s grace to you through His Son? How does His love change the way you relate to Him?
❤2
August 20 - Jairus’s Sense of Need
#LifeOfChrist
“A synagogue official came and bowed down before Him, and said, ‘My daughter has just died; but come and lay Your hand on her, and she will live’” (Matthew 9:18).
The accounts of this incident by Mark (5:22) and Luke (8:41) identify the synagogue official as Jairus. And everything he did in this encounter with Jesus demonstrated his humility and sincerity. His request of the Lord was a selfless one for something humanly impossible, and by making it he respected Christ’s power, compassion, and grace. Seemingly unworried about the reaction of his fellow religious leaders, he knew that only Jesus could help his daughter who had just died.
The Holy Spirit had obviously already worked in Jairus’s heart to bring him to this point. His request shows absolute faith that Jesus was able to do what was asked: “come and lay Your hand on her, and she will live.” Jairus’s sense of need was so urgent that he swallowed his fear and pride and came to Jesus without hesitation or doubt.
Often some tragedy such as this drives a person to Jesus Christ. Those who, unlike Jairus, are unaware of need in their lives will usually have no hunger for God. That’s why in evangelism, it is important to show someone their need of salvation and therefore of Christ as the only way to receive it. Jairus saw the emptiness of human resources in this situation and now knew Jesus was his last best hope. He may not have approached the Lord out of the purest motive, because his prime concern was his daughter’s life and his own despair. So his first thought was not solely to glorify Christ, but he did trust Jesus for help in bringing his child back—and he found Him truly accessible.
Ask Yourself
What needs do those around you have, perhaps without even knowing it? Identify several of them. As you go about your day, be aware of the needs they’re expressing. And as opportunities for spiritual conversation arise, show them the answer to their need in Christ Jesus.
#LifeOfChrist
“A synagogue official came and bowed down before Him, and said, ‘My daughter has just died; but come and lay Your hand on her, and she will live’” (Matthew 9:18).
The accounts of this incident by Mark (5:22) and Luke (8:41) identify the synagogue official as Jairus. And everything he did in this encounter with Jesus demonstrated his humility and sincerity. His request of the Lord was a selfless one for something humanly impossible, and by making it he respected Christ’s power, compassion, and grace. Seemingly unworried about the reaction of his fellow religious leaders, he knew that only Jesus could help his daughter who had just died.
The Holy Spirit had obviously already worked in Jairus’s heart to bring him to this point. His request shows absolute faith that Jesus was able to do what was asked: “come and lay Your hand on her, and she will live.” Jairus’s sense of need was so urgent that he swallowed his fear and pride and came to Jesus without hesitation or doubt.
Often some tragedy such as this drives a person to Jesus Christ. Those who, unlike Jairus, are unaware of need in their lives will usually have no hunger for God. That’s why in evangelism, it is important to show someone their need of salvation and therefore of Christ as the only way to receive it. Jairus saw the emptiness of human resources in this situation and now knew Jesus was his last best hope. He may not have approached the Lord out of the purest motive, because his prime concern was his daughter’s life and his own despair. So his first thought was not solely to glorify Christ, but he did trust Jesus for help in bringing his child back—and he found Him truly accessible.
Ask Yourself
What needs do those around you have, perhaps without even knowing it? Identify several of them. As you go about your day, be aware of the needs they’re expressing. And as opportunities for spiritual conversation arise, show them the answer to their need in Christ Jesus.