Displaying Christian Sermons by tag: daily devotion

John Hagee (December-07-2022) Daily Devotion:  Matthew 2:11 - And when they had come into the house, they saw the young Child with Mary His mother, and fell down and worshiped Him.

During this joyous season, we reflect on Jesus, the greatest gift God ever gave. And if He freely sent us His precious Son, we know that He will not withhold any good thing.

The wise men followed the star to Bethlehem with “exceedingly great joy” (Matthew 2:10). They had pursued its light until it led them to Jesus. They were drawn irresistibly to worship this King of the Jews.

When they entered the house, they did not introduce themselves, proclaim themselves ambassadors from a foreign land or dispute the validity of His claim to be King. They simply wanted to thank Him for coming. He was the beautiful fulfillment of a long-ago promise.

In humility, they fell down and worshiped this young Child. These were men with power, position, and prosperity. They had traveled by caravan from afar, their camels loaded down with expensive gifts for the tiny King. Before anything else, they fell to their knees and poured out their adoration and gratitude.

The journey to this Christmas holiday may have been an arduous one this year. As we enter this season of light and love, let us do so with exceedingly great joy. Like the wise men, let us welcome Him into our world. Let us bow in humble adoration to our King.

Today's Blessing: May the Lord bless you and keep you. May the Lord make His face to shine upon you and be gracious unto you and give you His peace. Emmanuel – God with us – has come to stay. He will never leave you. Come into His presence with rejoicing and adoration!

Today's Bible Reading: 

• Old Testament: Hosea 6:1-9:17
• New Testament: 3 John 1:1-15
• Psalms & Proverbs: Psalm 126:1-6, Proverbs 29:12-14

Joyce Meyer (December-07-2021) Daily Devotion: God Hears and Answers. 

Our friendship doesn’t only benefit us, it also benefits those around us. When people come to us with needs or concerns, we may be able to offer some help, or sometimes we may not be able to meet their needs at all. Even when we don’t have what someone really needs, God does, and because we’re His friends (see John 15:15), we can say to people, “I don’t have what you need, but I know Someone Who does. I’ll ask my Friend! I will talk to God for you.”

We know that God has the power to intervene in people’s circumstances, to help their children stop using drugs, to bring financial breakthroughs, to work medical miracles or to reconcile marriages. The more intimately we know God, the more confident we are in His willingness and ability to help people. When they come to us, we can go to Him and know He’ll come through with the help they need. We can actually ask God to do us a favor and help someone we love, even when we know that they don’t deserve it. When we pray with compassion out of a heart of love, He hears and answers.

I want to encourage you to remember this: God loves you, and He loves the sound of your voice. Go to Him often, not only for your needs, but also for the needs of others.

Prayer Starter: Father, thank You for being willing to help, both in my life and in the lives of people I love. Help me remember to come to You with their needs and mine, and to trust You to come through. In Jesus’ name, amen.

John Hagee (December-06-2022) Daily Devotion: Matthew 2:1-2 …behold, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, saying, ‘Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we have seen His star in the East and have come to worship Him’.

One star blazing in the night sky was so compelling that the wise men of the East loaded their camels with expensive gifts and followed its light to Jerusalem.

King Herod was the highest official in the land, but they were intent on finding another king. “Where is He?” they fervently asked. And their next declaration was most interesting!

“For we have seen His star….” They had not been captivated by a peculiar or particularly bright star. The adjective they used was quite specific; they had seen His star. Of the millions of lights in the sky that night, only one announced, “Jesus is here.”

In this life, we are enticed by many distractions. Our eyes are drawn to look, and our ears are lured to listen. Many paths promise to be the proper one; many roads seem the right one. People look to money or relationships to find wholeness. They believe that their good works or intellect can save them.

Only one Star leads to heaven, and His name is Jesus. He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. His is the only Name under heaven by which we can be saved (Acts 4:12). Let us come to worship Him.

Today's Blessing: May the Lord bless you and keep you. May the Lord make His face to shine upon you and be gracious unto you and give you His peace. May your heart be completely captivated by the King of kings. May you follow His light to lead you home.

Today's Bible Reading: 

• Old Testament: Hosea 4:1-5:15
• New Testament: 2 John 1:1-13
• Psalms & Proverbs: Psalm 125:1-5, Proverbs 29:9-11

Joyce Meyer (December-06-2022) Daily Devotion: Watch Your Step. 

When soldiers go to war, they intentionally protect their feet so they can stand and fight the enemy. In the same way, Paul is telling us that we must walk in peace in order to defeat Satan’s attacks. To have peace in your life, you need to be someone who makes peace and works to maintain it—you can’t just wait for peace to fall upon you. The psalmist instructs us to pursue, inquire for, crave, and go after peace (see Psalm 34:14). If you truly want peace, you will make whatever changes you need to make in order to have it. For instance, if you’re stressed out all the time and exceeding your limits, you need to cut a few things out of your life so you can have enough space to breathe and walk in peace.

Satan is an expert at stealing our joy and getting us upset enough that we lose our peace, which opens the door for him to wreak havoc in our lives. When the enemy’s working overtime to aggravate us, the most powerful thing we can do is refuse to let it upset us and instead walk in peace (see Philippians 1:28). As we keep our eyes on Jesus, He’ll take care of things and help us trust Him with the situations we’re stressed about.

Prayer Starter: Father, thank You for the peace You’ve given me. Please help me to begin to walk in it more today, and teach me how to make and maintain peace, wherever I am. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Joel Osteen (December-05-2021) Today's Word: Don’t Let the Odds Fool You

Today’s Scripture: Judges 7:2, NIV - The LORD said to Gideon, "You have too many men. I cannot deliver Midian into their hands, or Israel would boast against me, 'My own strength has saved me.'"

Today’s Word: An enemy army of one hundred and thirty-five thousand men was about to attack Gideon's army when God instructed Gideon to reduce his troops from thirty-two thousand men to ten thousand and then to only three hundred men. Gideon nearly passed out. These odds seemed impossible. But Gideon didn't realize that God was setting him up to show out in his life with a great victory.

Don't be surprised when you find yourself in situations where it feels as though the odds are against you. You don't see a way out. God puts you there on purpose so that when He turns it around, everyone will know it is the hand of the Lord. When your circumstances seem impossible, instead of being discouraged and thinking, God, why me? get ready. You're in perfect position for God to show out in your life and take you to the next level. He is setting you up to show His favor in amazing ways.

Prayer for Today: "Father, thank You that when the obstacles in my way look bigger, stronger, and more powerful than I can handle, You turn what look like setbacks into setups. I believe that You're about to make things happen that I could never make happen and in amazing ways. In Jesus' Name, Amen."

Joyce Meyer (December-05-2020) Daily Devotion: Your Healing Helps Others. 

Anytime a person is wounded in their soul, that woundedness affects other people. It can have an impact on your social life, especially if your pain has caused you not to trust people or not to want to enter into healthy relationships. If you’re a spouse or a parent, one of the consequences of the hurt from your past is that it can negatively influence your relationships with your husband or wife and your children, unless you let God heal you. It is sad to think about the fact that the pain one person has suffered can ultimately cause more pain to others, but it’s true. However, there is also a greater truth in these situations: Your healing can also affect the people around you in a hugely positive way.

I can’t overemphasize the importance of our relationships with other people. Every area of our lives includes relationships of some sort, whether they’re on‑the-surface acquaintances, deep friendships, or family relationships. All we have to offer to the people around us is what’s inside us. If our hearts are filled with pain, anger, fear, rejection, or other negative qualities, that’s what we give the people in our lives. But if we’re filled with peace, love, joy, hope, and other godly traits, then we can share those good things with them.

Think about your relationships for a minute. Is there a steady stream of good things flowing from you to your family, friends, neighbors, and coworkers? Or do people feel like they have to be on guard when they’re around you because they’ve learned they won’t hear anything encouraging or uplifting? Do you talk about yourself and your problems constantly, or do you express a genuine interest in how other people are doing? When you hear about something good happening for someone else, can you sincerely rejoice with that person, or do you find yourself jealous inside? Guess what? Every bit of negativity I’ve mentioned in this paragraph can be eliminated as your soul is healed. God wants to bring you into a place of genuine wholeness not only for yourself, but so you can be a blessing to those around you.

The journey to healing is not always smooth and easy. It will require you to take an honest look at some painful places in your life and allow the Lord to touch and heal them. In those difficult moments, I encourage you to press on, remembering that your healing can and will have a positive impact on many people if you don’t give up. When I was healing, I didn’t like to think about how my past wounds had hurt other people before my soul was healed, but I can rejoice now because God is using the healing He’s done in my heart to help others. Stay on your healing journey and watch how He will use you!

Prayer Starter: Jesus, please give me the grace not to give up on the healing work You’re doing in my heart. Thank You for restoring me so I can enjoy life again and help others heal. In Jesus’ name, amen.

John Hagee (December-04-2022) Daily Devotion: 2 Corinthians 3:18 - But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.

As believers in Jesus Christ, we can count on our tomorrows being better than our yesterdays. The Spirit of God works in us, with ever-increasing splendor, so that we become more and more like Him.

Too many children of God believe that their best is behind them. They look back at the mountaintop experiences, the miracles that God did, or the way He moved back then, and they are not convinced that He still does the impossible.

If we are breathing, though, God has more for us tomorrow than He has today. The triumphs of yesterday are wonderful reminders of what the Lord did in a past season, but they should not be where we hang our hopes and expectations. We should carry those memories into the future, believing that He can do it all again.

God healed the blind eyes, the deaf ears, and the lame legs in the past, and He still heals today. God provided for the destitute widow, and He still meets our needs today. God saved the jailer and his whole family, and our children are not beyond His reach.

His performance in the past builds our expectations for the future. He takes us from glory to glory!

Today's Blessing: May the Lord bless you and keep you. May the Lord make His face to shine upon you and be gracious unto you and give you His peace. May you grow in the grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ – from one level of glory to the next!

Today's Bible Reading: 

• Old Testament: Daniel 11:35-12:13
• New Testament: 1 John 4:1-21
• Psalms & Proverbs: Psalm 123:1-4, Proverbs 29:2-4

Joyce Meyer  (December-04-2022) Daily Devotion: A Calm Delight. 

When you consider joy, you might think of one of those bubbly people who seems "up" all the time, but maybe you’re not like that (neither am I!). If you happen to be that type of person naturally, good for you! But for those of us who tend to be very serious, it’s important that we take the time and learn how to have fun, breathe, and lighten up a little.

What is joy, and what is joy based on? One definition of joy is "a shout; a proclamation that can manifest in singing; a calm delight."

Happiness may be based on what is happening to you, but not joy. Joy—a fruit of the Spirit—is like a deep well inside of you, not a condition brought about by your circumstances. No matter what you’re facing in life, in Christ you can learn to live in the calm delight of His strengthening joy (see Nehemiah 8:10; Romans 15:13).

Prayer Starter: Father, thank You for the gift of Your joy. Please help me learn to walk in it more and more every day, and not to depend on my circumstances for contentment. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Joel Osteen (December-03-2020) Today's Word: Look Up and Listen.

Today’s Scripture: Hebrews 12:1, NIV - Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.

Today’s Word: Hebrews 11 talks about the heroes of faith and all the amazing things they accomplished. They didn't have a Bible like we do today. They didn't have the written promises to stand on like we do. They didn't know how it was going turn out, yet they chose to believe. Think of David, think of Moses, think of Abraham and Sarah. They withstood hardships, endured ridicule, fought giants, overcame enemies. Today's Scripture paints the picture of a huge heavenly stadium filled with the saints of old, including loved ones that have gone before us, cheering us on in our race.

When you're tempted do get discouraged in your daily race and losing heart, just look up and listen up. Do you hear it? All of heaven is cheering for you. Just imagine in that heavenly stadium that people are calling out your name, saying, "Run, baby, run! Stay strong. This is your time. You are well able. Leave your mark!"

Prayer for Today: "Father, thank You for the heroes of faith whose lives help show me how to live for You and who are cheering me on from heaven today. Thank You for their messages of perseverance and overcoming hardships. Help me to run my race with purpose and strength. In Jesus' Name, Amen."

John Hagee (December-03-2022) Daily Devotion: Job 36:22-24 - Behold, God is exalted by His power; who teaches like Him? Who has assigned Him His way, or who has said, ‘You have done wrong?’ Remember to magnify His work, of which men have sung.

When we consider only the things that we know, our expertise limits our expectations. We fail to account for a sovereign God Who knows all things.

He understands things that we have not even considered. Not only does He know about our current needs, He was aware of them before we even knew they existed. When we bring our request to Him, He already knows how He will solve it.

Yet, we often argue His answer. We tell Him how to figure out what He has already solved. If His response does not look like we expected, we accuse Him of doing wrong. Wouldn’t it be wiser to trust in a God Who can accomplish much more than our expertise leads us to expect?

If we had relied on our expertise, Mary would not have experienced a virgin birth. Jesus would have never fed 5000 with a few fish and loaves. Lazarus would have remained in a tomb. The way of the cross would not have led to redemption. Death would not have given way to victorious, overcoming life.

In our expert opinion, none of that makes sense! None of that should have happened. But God specializes in the unexpected, and we can trust in His right way.

Today's Blessing: May the Lord bless you and keep you. May the Lord make His face to shine upon you and be gracious unto you and give you His peace. Trust in Jesus. Do not lean on your own expertise. Believe in His better way!

Today's Bible Reading: 

• Old Testament - Daniel 11:1-34
• New Testament - 1 John 3:7-24
• Psalms & Proverbs - Psalm 122:1-9, Proverbs 29:1