Daily Light on the Daily Path

Daily Light for September 3

Morning

“No leaven shall be seen with you in all your territory.”

The fear of the LORD is hatred of evil.—Abhor what is evil.—Abstain from every form of evil.—See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God; that no “root of bitterness” springs up and causes trouble, and by it many become defiled.

If I had cherished iniquity in my heart, the Lord would not have listened.—Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump? Cleanse out the old leaven that you may be a new lump, as you really are unleavened. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. Let us therefore celebrate the festival, not with the old leaven, the leaven of malice and evil, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.—Let a person examine himself, then, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup.—“Let everyone who names the name of the Lord depart from iniquity.”—It was indeed fitting that we should have such a high priest, holy, innocent, unstained, separated from sinners.—In him there is no sin.

Ex. 13:7; Prov. 8:13; Rom. 12:9; 1 Thess. 5:22; Heb. 12:15; Ps. 66:18; 1 Cor. 5:6-8; 1 Cor. 11:28; 2 Tim. 2:19; Heb. 7:26; 1 John 3:5 (Read full verses...)

The serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. . . . Your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

But I am afraid that as the serpent deceived Eve by his cunning, your thoughts will be led astray from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ.

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. . . . Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm. Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.—So that we would not be outwitted by Satan; for we are not ignorant of his designs.

Gen. 3:4, 5; 2 Cor. 11:3; Eph. 6:10, 11, 13-17; 2 Cor. 2:11 (Read full verses...)

<< Sep 2 | Sep 3 | Sep 4 >>

Excerpted from Daily Light on the Daily Path ©2002 Crossway Books, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

Categories: Daily Devotional Aids

Daily Light for September 1

Morning

The fruit of the Spirit is . . . gentleness.

The meek shall obtain fresh joy in the LORD, and the poor among mankind shall exult in the Holy One of Israel.—“Unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.”—The imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit . . . in God's sight is very precious.—Love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant.

Pursue . . . gentleness.—“Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart.”—He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth.—Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps. He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth. When he was reviled, he did not revile in return . . . but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly.

Gal. 5:22, 23; Isa. 29:19; Matt. 18:3, 4; 1 Pet. 3:4; 1 Cor. 13:4; 1 Tim. 6:11; Matt. 11:29; Isa. 53:7; 1 Pet. 2:21-23 (Read full verses...)

“If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.”

Through honor and dishonor, through slander and praise.—Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.—The offense of the cross.

If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ.

If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed. . . . But let none of you suffer as a murderer or a thief or an evildoer or as a meddler. Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in that name.

For it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in him but also suffer for his sake.—One has died for all, therefore all have died; and he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised.—If we endure, we will also reign with him.

Luke 9:23; 2 Cor. 6:8; 2 Tim. 3:12; Gal. 5:11; Gal. 1:10; 1 Pet. 4:14-16; Phil. 1:29; 2 Cor. 5:14, 15; 2 Tim. 2:12 (Read full verses...)

<< Aug 31 | Sep 1 | Sep 2 >>

Excerpted from Daily Light on the Daily Path ©2002 Crossway Books, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

Categories: Daily Devotional Aids

Daily Light for August 30

Morning

The king . . . held out to Esther the golden scepter. . . . Then Esther approached and touched the tip of the scepter.

“If he cries to me, I will hear, for I am compassionate.”

So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. By this is love perfected with us, so that we may have confidence for the day of judgment, because as he is so also are we in this world. There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love. We love because he first loved us.—Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.— For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father.—We have boldness and access with confidence through our faith in him.—Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

Esth. 5:2; Ex. 22:27; 1 John 4:16-19; Heb. 10:22; Eph. 2:18; Eph. 3:12; Heb. 4:16 (Read full verses...)

They said to one another, “What is it?” For they did not know what it was.

Great indeed, we confess, is the mystery of godliness: He was manifested in the flesh.—“For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”—“Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. . . . If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh. . . . For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink.”—The people of Israel . . . gathered, some more, some less. But when they measured it with an omer, whoever gathered much had nothing left over, and whoever gathered little had no lack. Each of them gathered as much as he could eat. . . . Morning by morning they gathered it, each as much as he could eat.—“Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ . . . Your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.”

Ex. 16:15; 1 Tim. 3:16; John 6:33; John 6:49, 51, 55; Ex. 16:17, 18, 21; Matt. 6:31-33 (Read full verses...)

<< Aug 29 | Aug 30 | Aug 31 >>

Excerpted from Daily Light on the Daily Path ©2002 Crossway Books, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

Categories: Daily Devotional Aids

Daily Light for August 28

Morning

“The accuser of our brothers has been thrown down, who accuses them day and night before our God.”

They have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony.—Who shall bring any charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us.

He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame.—That through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery.—In all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.—Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. . . . And take . . . the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.—Thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Rev. 12:10; Rev. 12:11; Rom. 8:33, 34; Col. 2:15; Heb. 2:14, 15; Rom. 8:37; Eph. 6:11, 17; 1 Cor. 15:57 (Read full verses...)

The tree of life.

God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.—“He gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”—“As the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the Son gives life to whom he will. . . . For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself.”

“To the one who conquers I will grant to eat of the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.”—Through the middle of the street of the city; also, on either side of the river, the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.

Blessed is the one who finds wisdom. . . . Long life is in her right hand. . . . She is a tree of life to those who lay hold of her; those who hold her fast are called blessed.—Christ Jesus, whom God made our wisdom.

Gen. 2:9; 1 John 5:11; John 3:16; John 5:21, 26; Rev. 2:7; Rev. 22:2; Prov. 3:13, 16, 18; 1 Cor. 1:30 (Read full verses...)

<< Aug 27 | Aug 28 | Aug 29 >>

Excerpted from Daily Light on the Daily Path ©2002 Crossway Books, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

Categories: Daily Devotional Aids

Daily Light for August 26

Morning

“You shall make a plate of pure gold and engrave on it, like the engraving of a signet, ‘Holy to the LORD.’”

The holiness without which no one will see the Lord.—“God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.”—We have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment.—“Among those who are near me I will be sanctified, and before all the people I will be glorified.”

“This is the law of the temple: the whole territory on the top of the mountain all around shall be most holy.”—Holiness befits your house, O LORD, forevermore.

“For their sake I consecrate myself, that they also may be sanctified in truth.”—Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us . . . with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

Ex. 28:36; Heb. 12:14; John 4:24; Isa. 64:6; Lev. 10:3; Ezek. 43:12; Ps. 93:5; John 17:19; Heb. 4:14, 16 (Read full verses...)

My cup overflows.

Oh, taste and see that the LORD is good! Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him! Oh, fear the LORD, you his saints, for those who fear him have no lack! The young lions suffer want and hunger; but those who seek the LORD lack no good thing.—His mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.

The LORD is my chosen portion and my cup; you hold my lot. The lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; indeed, I have a beautiful inheritance.—Whether . . . the world or life or death or the present or the future—all are yours.—Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places.

I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content.—Now there is great gain in godliness with contentment.—My God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.

Ps. 23:5; Ps. 34:8-10; Lam. 3:22, 23; Ps. 16:5, 6; 1 Cor. 3:22; Eph. 1:3; Phil. 4:11; 1 Tim. 6:6; Phil. 4:19 (Read full verses...)

<< Aug 25 | Aug 26 | Aug 27 >>

Excerpted from Daily Light on the Daily Path ©2002 Crossway Books, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

Categories: Daily Devotional Aids

Daily Light for August 24

Morning

“I know their sufferings.”

A man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief.—We do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses.

“He took our illnesses and bore our diseases.”—Jesus, wearied as he was from his journey, was sitting beside the well.

When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in his spirit and greatly troubled. . . . Jesus wept.—For because he himself has suffered when tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.

He looked down from his holy height; from heaven the LORD looked at the earth, to hear the groans of the prisoners, to set free those who were doomed to die.—“He knows the way that I take; when he has tried me, I shall come out as gold.”—When my spirit faints within me, you know my way!—He who touches you touches the apple of his eye.—In all their affliction he was afflicted, and the angel of his presence saved them.

Ex. 3:7; Isa. 53:3; Heb. 4:15; Matt. 8:17; John 4:6; John 11:33, 35; Heb. 2:18; Ps. 102:19, 20; Job 23:10; Ps. 142:3; Zech. 2:8; Isa. 63:9 (Read full verses...)

“We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day.”

The soul of the sluggard craves and gets nothing, while the soul of the diligent is richly supplied.—One who waters will himself be watered.

“My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to accomplish his work. Do you not say, ‘There are yet four months, then comes the harvest’? Look, I tell you, lift up your eyes, and see that the fields are white for harvest. Already the one who reaps is receiving wages and gathering fruit for eternal life, so that sower and reaper may rejoice together.”—“The kingdom of heaven is like a master of a house who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard. After agreeing with the laborers for a denarius a day, he sent them into his vineyard.”

Preach the word; be ready in season and out of season.—“Engage in business until I come.”—I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me.

John 9:4; Prov. 13:4; Prov. 11:25; John 4:34-36; Matt. 20:1, 2; 2 Tim. 4:2; Luke 19:13; 1 Cor. 15:10 (Read full verses...)

<< Aug 23 | Aug 24 | Aug 25 >>

Excerpted from Daily Light on the Daily Path ©2002 Crossway Books, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

Categories: Daily Devotional Aids

Daily Light for August 22

Morning

None of us lives to himself, and none of us dies to himself.

If we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord. So then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord's.—Let no one seek his own good, but the good of his neighbor.—You were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.

Christ will be honored in my body, whether by life or by death. For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. If I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me. Yet which I shall choose I cannot tell. I am hard pressed between the two. My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better.

Through the law I died to the law, so that I might live to God. I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

Rom. 14:7; Rom. 14:8; 1 Cor. 10:24; 1 Cor. 6:20; Phil. 1:20-23; Gal. 2:19, 20 (Read full verses...)

God gave Solomon . . . breadth of mind like the sand on the seashore.

“Behold, something greater than Solomon is here.”—Prince of Peace.

One will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die—but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.—Who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.—The love of Christ that surpasses knowledge.

Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.—In whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.—The unsearchable riches of Christ.—He is the source of your life in Christ Jesus, whom God made our wisdom and our righteousness and sanctification and redemption.

1 Kings 4:29; Matt. 12:42; Isa. 9:6; Rom. 5:7, 8; Phil. 2:6-8; Eph. 3:19; 1 Cor. 1:24; Col. 2:3; Eph. 3:8; 1 Cor. 1:30 (Read full verses...)

<< Aug 21 | Aug 22 | Aug 23 >>

Excerpted from Daily Light on the Daily Path ©2002 Crossway Books, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

Categories: Daily Devotional Aids

Daily Light for August 20

Morning

“God is not man, that he should lie, or a son of man, that he should change his mind.”

The Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.—Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.

His faithfulness is a shield and buckler.

When God desired to show more convincingly to the heirs of the promise the unchangeable character of his purpose, he guaranteed it with an oath, so that by two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us.

“The faithful God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, to a thousand generations.”—All the paths of the LORD are steadfast love and faithfulness, for those who keep his covenant and his testimonies.—Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the LORD his God . . . who keeps faith forever.

Num. 23:19; Jas. 1:17; Heb. 13:8; Ps. 91:4; Heb. 6:17, 18; Deut. 7:9; Ps. 25:10; Ps. 146:5, 6 (Read full verses...)

If you faint in the day of adversity, your strength is small.

He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might he increases strength.—“My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”—“When he calls to me, I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will rescue him and honor him.”—“The eternal God is your dwelling place, and underneath are the everlasting arms. And he thrust out the enemy before you.”

I looked for pity, but there was none, and for comforters, but I found none.—Every high priest chosen from among men is appointed to act on behalf of men in relation to God. . . . He can deal gently with the ignorant and wayward, since he himself is beset with weakness. . . . So also Christ . . . Although he was a son, he learned obedience through what he suffered. And being made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey him.—Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows.

Prov. 24:10; Isa. 40:29; 2 Cor. 12:9; Ps. 91:15; Deut. 33:27; Ps. 69:20; Heb. 5:1, 2, 5, 8, 9; Isa. 53:4 (Read full verses...)

<< Aug 19 | Aug 20 | Aug 21 >>

Excerpted from Daily Light on the Daily Path ©2002 Crossway Books, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

Categories: Daily Devotional Aids

Daily Light for August 18

Morning

“What god is there in heaven or on earth who can do such works and mighty acts as yours?”

Who in the skies can be compared to the LORD? Who among the heavenly beings is like the LORD? . . . O LORD God of hosts, who is mighty as you are, O LORD, with your faithfulness all around you?—There is none like you among the gods, O Lord, nor are there any works like yours.—“Because of your promise, and according to your own heart, you have brought about all this greatness, to make your servant know it. Therefore you are great, O LORD God. For there is none like you, and there is no God besides you, according to all that we have heard with our ears.”

“What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him”—these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit.—“The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children.”

Deut. 3:24; Ps. 89:6, 8; Ps. 86:8; 2 Sam. 7:21, 22; 1 Cor. 2:9, 10; Deut. 29:29 (Read full verses...)

“Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.”

“Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD.”

Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ.—I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes.—In Christ Jesus, then, I have reason to be proud of my work for God.

Whom have I in heaven but you? And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you.—“My heart exults in the LORD; . . . I rejoice in your salvation.”

Not to us, O LORD, not to us, but to your name give glory, for the sake of your steadfast love and your faithfulness!

1 Cor. 1:31; Jer. 9:23, 24; Phil. 3:8; Rom. 1:16; Rom. 15:17; Ps. 73:25; 1 Sam. 2:1; Ps. 115:1 (Read full verses...)

<< Aug 17 | Aug 18 | Aug 19 >>

Excerpted from Daily Light on the Daily Path ©2002 Crossway Books, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

Categories: Daily Devotional Aids

Daily Light for August 16

Morning

“The house that is to be built for the LORD must be exceedingly magnificent.”

You yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house.—Do you not know that you are God's temple and that God's Spirit dwells in you? If anyone destroys God's temple, God will destroy him. For God's temple is holy, and you are that temple.—Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.—What agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; as God said, “I will make my dwelling among them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.”—You are . . . built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.

1 Chron. 22:5; 1 Pet. 2:5; 1 Cor. 3:16, 17; 1 Cor. 6:19, 20; 2 Cor. 6:16; Eph. 2:19-22 (Read full verses...)

He is before all things.

“The words of the Amen, . . . the beginning of God's creation.”—He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent.

“The LORD possessed me at the beginning of his work, the first of his acts of old. Ages ago I was set up, at the first, before the beginning of the earth. . . . When he established the heavens, I was there; when he drew a circle on the face of the deep, when he made firm the skies above, when he established the fountains of the deep, when he assigned to the sea its limit, so that the waters might not transgress his command, . . . and I was daily his delight, rejoicing before him always.”—“Also henceforth I am he.”

The Lamb that was slain.—The founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.

Col. 1:17; Rev. 3:14; Col. 1:18; Prov. 8:22, 23, 27-30; Isa. 43:13; Rev. 13:8; Heb. 12:2 (Read full verses...)

<< Aug 15 | Aug 16 | Aug 17 >>

Excerpted from Daily Light on the Daily Path ©2002 Crossway Books, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

Categories: Daily Devotional Aids

Daily Light for August 15

Morning

Now may the God of peace . . . equip you with everything good that you may do his will.

Finally, brothers, rejoice. Aim for restoration, comfort one another, agree with one another, live in peace; and the God of love and peace will be with you.

By grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.—Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.

Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.—Be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.—Filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.

Not that we are sufficient in ourselves to claim anything as coming from us, but our sufficiency is from God.

Heb. 13:20, 21; 2 Cor. 13:11; Eph. 2:8, 9; Jas. 1:17; Phil. 2:12, 13; Rom. 12:2; Phil. 1:11; 2 Cor. 3:5 (Read full verses...)

“I will allure her, and bring her into the wilderness, and speak tenderly to her.”

“Therefore go out from their midst, and be separate from them, says the Lord, and touch no unclean thing; then I will welcome you, and I will be a father to you, and you shall be sons and daughters to me, says the Lord Almighty.”—Since we have these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body and spirit, bringing holiness to completion in the fear of God.—Jesus also suffered outside the gate in order to sanctify the people through his own blood. Therefore let us go to him outside the camp and bear the reproach he endured.

[Jesus] said to them, “Come away by yourselves to a desolate place and rest a while.”—The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake.

Hos. 2:14; 2 Cor. 6:17, 18; 2 Cor. 7:1; Heb. 13:12, 13; Mark 6:31; Ps. 23:1-3 (Read full verses...)

<< Aug 14 | Aug 15 | Aug 16 >>

Excerpted from Daily Light on the Daily Path ©2002 Crossway Books, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

Categories: Daily Devotional Aids

Daily Light for August 13

Morning

He has prepared for them a city.

“And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.”—An inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you.—Here we have no lasting city, but we seek the city that is to come.

“This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.”—Be patient, therefore, brothers, until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, being patient about it, until it receives the early and the late rains. You also, be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand.—“Yet a little while, and the coming one will come and will not delay.”

We who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. Therefore encourage one another with these words.

Heb. 11:16; John 14:3; 1 Pet. 1:4; Heb. 13:14; Acts 1:11; Jas. 5:7, 8; Heb. 10:37; 1 Thess. 4:17, 18 (Read full verses...)

God chose what is low and despised in the world.

Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.

And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, . . . among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind.

He saved us . . . according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior.

“My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the LORD.”

1 Cor. 1:28; 1 Cor. 6:9-11; Eph. 2:1-3; Titus 3:5, 6; Isa. 55:8 (Read full verses...)

<< Aug 12 | Aug 13 | Aug 14 >>

Excerpted from Daily Light on the Daily Path ©2002 Crossway Books, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

Categories: Daily Devotional Aids

Daily Light for August 11

Morning

That through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death.

Our Savior Christ Jesus . . . abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.—He will swallow up death forever; and the Lord GOD will wipe away tears from all faces, and the reproach of his people he will take away from all the earth, for the LORD has spoken.—When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written: “Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?” The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.—Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.

Heb. 2:14; 2 Tim. 1:10; Isa. 25:8; 1 Cor. 15:54-57; 2 Tim. 1:7; Ps. 23:4 (Read full verses...)

“Where is the way to the dwelling of light?”

God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.—“As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.”

If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.—The Father . . . has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

For you are all children of light, children of the day. We are not of the night or of the darkness.—“You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. . . . Let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.”

Job 38:19; 1 John 1:5; John 9:5; 1 John 1:6, 7; Col. 1:12-14; 1 Thess. 5:5; Matt. 5:14, 16 (Read full verses...)

<< Aug 10 | Aug 11 | Aug 12 >>

Excerpted from Daily Light on the Daily Path ©2002 Crossway Books, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

Categories: Daily Devotional Aids

Daily Light for August 10

Morning

“I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one.”

Blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world.—“You are the salt of the earth, . . . the light of the world. . . . Let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.”

“It was I who kept you from sinning against me.”

But the Lord is faithful. He will establish you and guard you against the evil one.—I did not do so, because of the fear of God.—Who gave himself for our sins to deliver us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father.—Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.

John 17:15; Phil. 2:15; Matt. 5:13, 14, 16; Gen. 20:6; 2 Thess. 3:3; Neh. 5:15; Gal. 1:4; Jude 24, 25 (Read full verses...)

Whoever trusts in the LORD is safe.

The LORD is exalted, for he dwells on high.—The LORD is high above all nations, and his glory above the heavens! . . . He raises the poor from the dust and lifts the needy from the ash heap, to make them sit with princes.

God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus.

He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? . . . For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Prov. 29:25; Isa. 33:5; Ps. 113:4, 7, 8; Eph. 2:4-6; Rom. 8:32, 38, 39 (Read full verses...)

<< Aug 9 | Aug 10 | Aug 11 >>

Excerpted from Daily Light on the Daily Path ©2002 Crossway Books, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

Categories: Daily Devotional Aids

Daily Light for August 8

Morning

The path of the righteous is like the light of dawn, which shines brighter and brighter until full day.

Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own.—“Let us know; let us press on to know the LORD.”

“Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father.”—We all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.—When the perfect comes, the partial will pass away. . . . For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known.—Beloved, we are God's children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is. And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure.

Prov. 4:18; Phil. 3:12; Hos. 6:3; Matt. 13:43; 2 Cor. 3:18; 1 Cor. 13:10, 12; 1 John 3:2, 3 (Read full verses...)

“Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

“Whoever comes to me I will never cast out.”—“Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” And he said to him, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise.”—“What do you want me to do for you?” They said to him, “Lord, let our eyes be opened.” And Jesus in pity touched their eyes, and immediately they recovered their sight and followed him.

“If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”—“I will put my Spirit within you. . . . Thus says the Lord GOD: This also I will let the house of Israel ask me to do for them: to increase their people like a flock.”—And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us. And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him.

Rom. 10:13; John 6:37; Luke 23:42, 43; Matt. 20:32-34; Luke 11:13; Ezek. 36:27, 37; 1 John 5:14, 15 (Read full verses...)

<< Aug 7 | Aug 8 | Aug 9 >>

Excerpted from Daily Light on the Daily Path ©2002 Crossway Books, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

Categories: Daily Devotional Aids

Daily Light for August 6

Morning

The LORD reproves him whom he loves.

“See now that I, even I, am he, and there is no god beside me; I kill and I make alive; I wound and I heal; and there is none that can deliver out of my hand.”—“I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for wholeness and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.”—“My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the LORD.”

“Therefore, behold, I will allure her, and bring her into the wilderness, and speak tenderly to her.”—As a man disciplines his son, the LORD your God disciplines you.—For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.—Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you.

I know, O LORD, that your rules are righteous, and that in faithfulness you have afflicted me.

Prov. 3:12; Deut. 32:39; Jer. 29:11; Isa. 55:8; Hos. 2:14; Deut. 8:5; Heb. 12:11; 1 Pet. 5:6; Ps. 119:75 (Read full verses...)

The earth is the LORD's and the fullness thereof.

“She did not know that it was I who gave her the grain, the wine, and the oil, and who lavished on her silver and gold. Therefore I will take back my grain in its time, and my wine in its season, and I will take away my wool and my flax.”—“All things come from you, and of your own have we given you. For we are strangers before you and sojourners, as all our fathers were. Our days on the earth are like a shadow, and there is no abiding. O LORD our God, all this abundance . . . comes from your hand and is all your own.”—From him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen.

God, who richly provides us with everything to enjoy.—Everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, for it is made holy by the word of God and prayer.

My God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.

Ps. 24:1; Hos. 2:8, 9; 1 Chron. 29:14-16; Rom. 11:36; 1 Tim. 6:17; 1 Tim. 4:4, 5; Phil. 4:19 (Read full verses...)

<< Aug 5 | Aug 6 | Aug 7 >>

Excerpted from Daily Light on the Daily Path ©2002 Crossway Books, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

Categories: Daily Devotional Aids

Daily Light for August 4

Morning

“It is finished,” and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.

Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith.—“I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do.”—We have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. And every priest stands daily at his service, offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, waiting from that time until his enemies should be made a footstool for his feet. For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified.—Canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross.

“I lay down my life that I may take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again.”—“Greater love has no one than this, that someone lays down his life for his friends.”

John 19:30; Heb. 12:2; John 17:4; Heb. 10:10-14; Col. 2:14; John 10:17, 18; John 15:13 (Read full verses...)

He sent from on high, he took me; he drew me out of many waters.

He drew me up from the pit of destruction, out of the miry bog, and set my feet upon a rock, making my steps secure.—You were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience—among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh.

Hear my cry, O God, listen to my prayer; from the end of the earth I call to you when my heart is faint.—“Out of the belly of Sheol I cried, and you heard my voice. For you cast me into the deep, into the heart of the seas, and the flood surrounded me; all your waves and your billows passed over me.”—We went through fire and through water; yet you have brought us out to a place of abundance.

“When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you.”

Ps. 18:16; Ps. 40:2; Eph. 2:1-3; Ps. 61:1, 2; Jonah 2:2, 3; Ps. 66:12; Isa. 43:2 (Read full verses...)

<< Aug 3 | Aug 4 | Aug 5 >>

Excerpted from Daily Light on the Daily Path ©2002 Crossway Books, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

Categories: Daily Devotional Aids

Daily Light for August 2

Morning

The Lamb that was slain.

“Your lamb shall be without blemish . . . and . . . the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill their lambs at twilight. Then they shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and the lintel of the houses in which they eat it. . . . And when I see the blood, I will pass over you.—The sprinkled blood.—Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed.—“Delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God.”—Because of his own purpose and grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began.

In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses.—Since therefore Christ suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves with the same way of thinking, for whoever has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, so as to live for the rest of the time in the flesh no longer for human passions but for the will of God.

Rev. 13:8; Ex. 12:5-7, 13; Heb. 12:24; 1 Cor. 5:7; Acts 2:23; 2 Tim. 1:9; Eph. 1:7; 1 Pet. 4:1, 2 (Read full verses...)

“I have trodden the winepress alone.”

“Who is like you, O LORD, among the gods? Who is like you, majestic in holiness, awesome in glorious deeds, doing wonders?”—[The Lord] saw that there was no man, and wondered that there was no one to intercede; then his own arm brought him salvation, and his righteousness upheld him.—He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree.—Becoming a curse for us.

Oh sing to the LORD a new song, for he has done marvelous things! His right hand and his holy arm have worked salvation for him.—He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him.—Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied; by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant, make many to be accounted righteous, and he shall bear their iniquities.

“March on, my soul, with might!”—We are more than conquerors through him who loved us.—“They have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony.”

Isa. 63:3; Ex. 15:11; Isa. 59:16; 1 Pet. 2:24; Gal. 3:13; Ps. 98:1; Col. 2:15; Isa. 53:11; Judg. 5:21; Rom. 8:37; Rev. 12:11 (Read full verses...)

<< Aug 1 | Aug 2 | Aug 3 >>

Excerpted from Daily Light on the Daily Path ©2002 Crossway Books, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

Categories: Daily Devotional Aids

Daily Light for August 1

Morning

The fruit of the Spirit is . . . faithfulness.

By grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God.—Without faith it is impossible to please him.—“Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.”—“I believe; help my unbelief!”

Whoever keeps his word, in him truly the love of God is perfected. By this we may be sure that we are in him.—Faith working through love.—Faith apart from works is useless.—We walk by faith, not by sight.—I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.—Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.

Gal. 5:22; Eph. 2:8; Heb. 11:6; John 3:18; Mark 9:24; 1 John 2:5; Gal. 5:6; Jas. 2:20; 2 Cor. 5:7; Gal. 2:20; 1 Pet. 1:8, 9 (Read full verses...)

The Lord is compassionate and merciful.

As a father shows compassion to his children, so the LORD shows compassion to those who fear him.—The LORD is gracious and merciful. . . . He remembers his covenant forever.

He who keeps you will not slumber. Behold, he who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep.—Like an eagle that stirs up its nest, that flutters over its young, spreading out its wings, catching them, bearing them on its pinions, the LORD alone guided him, no foreign god was with him.

His mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.—[Jesus] went ashore he saw a great crowd, and he had compassion on them and healed their sick.—Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.

“Even the hairs of your head are all numbered. . . . Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. . . . Fear not, therefore.”

James 5:11; Ps. 103:13; Ps. 111:4, 5; Ps. 121:3, 4; Deut. 32:11, 12; Lam. 3:22, 23; Matt. 14:14; Heb. 13:8; Matt. 10:30, 29, 31 (Read full verses...)

<< Jul 31 | Aug 1 | Aug 2 >>

Excerpted from Daily Light on the Daily Path ©2002 Crossway Books, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

Categories: Daily Devotional Aids

Daily Light for July 30

Morning

Seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.

Get wisdom; get insight.—The wisdom from above.—“The deep says, ‘It is not in me,’ and the sea says, ‘It is not with me.’”—We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his.

Let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us.—God . . . made us alive together with Christ . . . and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus.

People who speak thus make it clear that they are seeking a homeland.—Seek the LORD, all you humble of the land, who do his just commands; seek righteousness; seek humility.

Col. 3:1; Prov. 4:5; Jas. 3:17; Job 28:14; Rom. 6:4, 5; Heb. 12:1; Eph. 2:4-6; Heb. 11:14; Zeph. 2:3 (Read full verses...)

Nicodemus, who had gone to him before.

Peter was following him at a distance.—Many even of the authorities believed in him, but for fear of the Pharisees they did not confess it, so that they would not be put out of the synagogue; for they loved the glory that comes from man more than the glory that comes from God.—The fear of man lays a snare, but whoever trusts in the LORD is safe.

“Whoever comes to me I will never cast out.”—A bruised reed he will not break, and a faintly burning wick he will not quench.—“Faith like a grain of mustard seed.”

God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control. Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord.—Little children, abide in him, so that when he appears we may have confidence and not shrink from him in shame at his coming.—“Everyone who acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven.”

John 7:50; Matt. 26:58; John 12:42, 43; Prov. 29:25; John 6:37; Isa. 42:3; Matt. 17:20; 2 Tim. 1:7, 8; 1 John 2:28; Matt. 10:32 (Read full verses...)

<< Jul 29 | Jul 30 | Jul 31 >>

Excerpted from Daily Light on the Daily Path ©2002 Crossway Books, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

Categories: Daily Devotional Aids