December 10, 2020 | 1 John 3:11–24 DEVOTIONS This Month’s Issue During a lockdown in Vietnam to combat the COVID-19 virus, some people had difficulty obtaining enough food. In response, a Ho Chi Minh City businessman set up free “rice ATMs” to help. Anyone who needed it could withdraw (at no cost) one day’s worth […]
December 9, 2020 | John 15:9–17 DEVOTIONS This Month’s Issue We are living between two Advents: Christ’s birth and His return. How should that affect the way we live? A.W. Tozer answered: “In the midst of our lives, and between the two great mountain peaks of God’s acts in the world, we look back and […]
December 8, 2020 | John 14:23–31 DEVOTIONS This Month’s Issue Do you believe that being a Christian means denying yourself? While this is a basic biblical truth about discipleship, a recent survey revealed that only 36 percent of churchgoers “strongly agreed” with it. Nineteen percent actually “disagreed.” What we may choose to forget is that […]
December 7, 2020 | John 13:1-35 DEVOTIONS This Month’s Issue The classic Christmas movie “It’s a Wonderful Life” celebrates the sacrificial love of its main character, George Bailey. As a young man, George gave up his dreams of success and travel, to stay and help his father and his community. When he almost lost everything, […]
December 6, 2020 | John 3:1-21 DEVOTIONS This Month’s Issue In China, some parents follow their freshman children to university. They’re allowed to camp nearby for a month in order to help them adjust to life away from home by, for example, cooking their meals or washing their laundry. Tianjin University offers “tents of love” […]
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 […]
This Month’s Issue In her song, “Faithful God,” Laura Story magnifies the Lord’s trustworthiness: “For you are the love that never leaves / The friend that won’t deceive / You’re the one sure thing / Faithful God, every promise kept / Every need You’ve met, faithful God. / All I am and all I’ll ever […]
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, […]