December 23, 2020 | Matthew 1:18–25 DEVOTIONS This Month’s Issue “O Come, O Come Emmanuel” is a beloved Christmas carol, saturated with longing for God’s promised Messiah. We celebrate not only His coming as a baby at Christmas, which lies in the past, but also His Second Coming in glory, which lies in our future. […]
December 22, 2020 | Luke 1:26–38 DEVOTIONS This Month’s Issue When the angels appeared, delivering an important announcement, they were fulfilling a Messianic prophecy: “The Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel,” meaning “God with us” (Isa. 7:14). As the […]
December 17, 2020 | 1 Peter 1:3–9 DEVOTIONS This Month’s Issue A popular contemporary Christmas song by Keith Getty and Stuart Townend declares: “Joy has dawned upon the world, Promised from creation: God’s salvation now unfurled, Hope for every nation. Not with fanfares from above, Not with scenes of glory, But a humble gift of […]
December 5, 2020 | Isaiah 40:25-31 DEVOTIONS This Month’s Issue Forty Roman soldiers in 4th-century Armenia disobeyed the emperor’s order. These brave Christians stood firm, refusing to offer a pagan sacrifice. They were imprisoned and tortured, stripped, and herded onto a frozen pond. Warm baths were offered to anyone who would deny their faith. But […]
December 4, 2020 | Psalm 130 DEVOTIONS This Month’s Issue Do you have biblical hope? The great nineteenth-century preacher Charles Spurgeon responded: “When you are cleaned right out, when even the last rusty counterfeit farthing has been emptied out of your pocket and you stand before your God as a wretched, starving and bankrupt beggar, […]
December 3, 2020 | Romans 8:18–25 DEVOTIONS This Month’s Issue “In the barn on Christmas Eve, after all the people leave, The animals in voices low, remember Christmas long ago.” So begins The Animals’ Christmas Eve. In this children’s book, the animals retell the first Christmas, recalling the birth of the Christ-child and how He […]
December 1, 2020 | Matthew 12:15-21 DEVOTIONS This Month’s Issue The weeks leading up to Christmas are called Advent. Why? Because Advent means “coming” or “arrival.” Christmas is the season in which we celebrate the arrival of the turning point in God’s plan of redemption— the coming of His Son, Jesus Christ. In today’s culture, […]
October 22, 2020 | Psalm 64 DEVOTIONS This Month’s Issue What is the difference between the righteous and the wicked? Is it simply that the righteous generally do the right thing while the wicked do not? While that is partially true, it’s not the full story. As seen in our study of the second […]
October 3, 2020 | Psalm 45 DEVOTIONS This Month’s Issue The Battle of Gettysburg was costly. In just three days of fighting, there were more than 50,000 casualties. The nation was weary of war and wondered if it would ever end. In his famous Gettysburg address, Abraham Lincoln presented a vision for the future: “[T]hat […]
FROM DESPAIR TO HOPE September 16, 2019 | Psalm 22 DEVOTIONS This Month’s Issue In the Gospel of Mark, Jesus makes only one statement from the cross, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani” (which means ‘My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?’)” (Mark 15:34). Many people understand Jesus’ words as a cry of despair. Some […]