He faced all of the same temptations we do. — Hebrews 4:15 You and I know what it is like to endure a moment of temptation or an hour of temptation, even a day of temptation. But forty days? That is what Jesus faced. The Spirit led Jesus into the desert where the devil tempted Jesus for forty…
Lent: He Must Increase, I Must Decrease
Editor’s note: While the tradition of Lent and fasting (or giving something up) is not traditional for most evangelical Christians, there is a growing interest among many believers to use these weeks before Easter to draw closer to Christ, remember His sacrifice, and ready our hearts to celebrate His Resurrection! In her popular book 40 Days…
Lent: Uncluttering of the Soul
The sabbatical started more suddenly and violently than anticipated. A high fever, a few scans, multiple masses, possibly a lethal abscess… the specialists convened, conferred, counseled me to cancel all engagements, and began cutting. The reduction had begun. Though the masses, thankfully, were all benign, my body did not respond well to the invasion. The…
Why Should I Fast? 7 Examples of Fasting in the Bible
Although the Bible doesn’t give a direct command on this issue, examples of fasting appear in both the Old and the New Testaments. One of the most telling passages in which fasting is mentioned is Matthew 6:16, where Jesus is teaching His disciples basic principles of godly living. When speaking on fasting, He begins with,…
7 Last Sayings of Jesus on the Cross
7 Last Sayings of Jesus on the Cross Today is Good Friday. Today we remember the agony experienced by Jesus in His death on the Cross, crucified by Roman soldiers. In the final hours of His earthly time, as Jesus hung on the Cross, He made seven statements – each teaching us more about Jesus…
When Your World Turns Against You
Editor’s Note: It’s Sit & Listen Saturday at Devotionals Daily. Enjoy reading as well as listening to this devotion from Max Lucado’s book And the Angels Were Silent; a perfect reading to meditate on as we prepare for Easter tomorrow. Listen on the blog or on your Alexa device by enabling the skill and then prompting,…
He Chose the Nails: He Chose to Be One of Us
God did what the law could not do. He sent His own Son in a body like the bodies we sinners have. And in that body God declared an end to sin’s control over us by giving His Son as a sacrifice for our sins. — Romans 8:3 NLT You alone are the God for us…
This is Love – He Did This Just for You
Editor’s note: Today is Valentine’s Day as well as the first day of Lent – the first time since 1945 that the two days have coincided! What a day for love! What a day to focus on God’s love for us through his son, Jesus! * Oh, the things we do to give gifts to those…
Don’t Fast Pass Your Grief
Decrease Today’s Reading: John 12:44-50 Fifteen months1 after John the Baptist was imprisoned, Herod Antipas — the son of Herod the Great who reigned at the time of Jesus’ birth — beheaded John to save face at a banquet.2 John’s decrease was now complete. All eyes turned to Jesus. Matthew recorded that, “When Jesus heard…
Lent: Ask God What to Fast
It has been a few years — fourteen, now that I think about it — since we were in a church that celebrated Lent. We attended an Episcopal church in town back then and enjoyed it very much. It was there that we learned something of the observance of Lent, that forty-day period of personal…