Category: Daily Devotion

1 John 3: 11  NLT  “This is the message you have heard from the beginning: We should love one another.”  That is the crucial statement of this chapter.  John heard that statement at the Last Supper, and he took it to heart.      John 13:34-35  NLT “So now I am giving you a new...

1 John 3: 4 – 10   NLT “Everyone who sins is breaking God’s law, for all sin is contrary to the law of God. 5 And you know that Jesus came to take away our sins, and there is no sin in him. 6 Anyone who continues to live in him will not sin. But anyone who keeps on...

1 John 2: 28 – 3: 3  NLT “And now, dear children, remain in fellowship with Christ so that when he returns, you will be full of courage and not shrink back from him in shame. 29 Since we know that Christ is righteous, we also know that all who do what is right are God’s...

Before we start reading today, I want to mention a couple of things that will make the reading easier. In verse 18, John writes, “You have heard that the Antichrist is coming, and already many such antichrists have appeared.”  What is he talking about when he says antichrist, and why is one capitalized and the...

1 John 2: 12 – 14     NLT “I am writing to you who are God’s children    because your sins have been forgiven through Jesus.13 I am writing to you who are mature in the faith    because you know Christ, who existed from the beginning.I am writing to you who are young in the faith    because you have won your...

1 John 2: 1 – 11  NLT “My dear children, I am writing this to you so that you will not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate who pleads our case before the Father. He is Jesus Christ, the one who is truly righteous. 2 He himself is the sacrifice that atones for...

1 John 1: 5 – 10  NLT “This is the message we heard from Jesus and now declare to you: God is light, and there is no darkness in him at all. 6 So we are lying if we say we have fellowship with God but go on living in spiritual darkness; we are not practicing the truth. 7 But...

Today, we begin going through 1 John. There are 3 different scriptures that you will read today that tell us who Jesus is.  Read those verses slowly. Absorb what they say; they make such a huge difference in our lives. 1 John 1: 1 – 4  NLT “We proclaim to you the one who existed...

As I sleep tonight I can hear the gentle crashing of the ocean waves against the rocks just outside my door.  I am visiting at my brother and sister-in-law’s and they have a cottage literally right on the ocean.  At first the noise of the wind and the waves was gentle, but after our chatting...

Ben Kilham didn’t learn like other children in school.  He couldn’t read well when it came to the written word but this was by no means a measure of his intelligence, because when it came to animals in the wild, Ben could certainly read their signals.  In fact, this naturalist from New England, USA is...

Here is a math trick for you.  Pick any number.  Add the next higher number to it.  Add 9 and divide by 2.  Now subtract the original number.  The answer will always be 5.  If you approach someone and tell them to pick any number and not tell you what it is, and then you...

I visited a fjord over March break.  We headed up island as a family and walked amongst the treetops on a boardwalk in the sky.  After climbing 32 meters in the air we had a literal ‘bird’s eye view’ of the fjord.  All around were pine trees and cedars.  The ocean was vast and we...

Spring is upon us and all around is new life.  Just a few weeks ago piglets were born on our sons’ farm.  There is a fawn in the area and tulips and cherry blossoms are everywhere.  In some provinces the crocuses are poking their heads out of snow, and in others the hills are covered...

In my work life, I was a secondary school English teacher. One of the key things I taught in the senior grades was how to write an essay. You need to know the main point you are trying to prove – the thesis. Then you explain why that statement is correct. Finally, you sum up...

We all have things in our lives that we regret, things we wish we had the chance to do over again. Some of us have more serious regrets – decisions we’ve made that had horrible consequences, and are really difficult to get over. Peter is facing regret.  He told Jesus at the last supper that...

John 21: 1 – 12   (NLT) “Later, Jesus appeared again to the disciples beside the Sea of Galilee. This is how it happened. 2 Several of the disciples were there—Simon Peter, Thomas (nicknamed the Twin), Nathanael from Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two other disciples. 3 Simon Peter said, “I’m going fishing.” “We’ll come, too,” they all...

John 19: 19 – 36  NLT Jesus Appears to His Disciples 19 That Sunday evening the disciples were meeting behind locked doors because they were afraid of the Jewish leaders. Suddenly, Jesus was standing there among them! “Peace be with you,” he said. 20 As he spoke, he showed them the wounds in his hands and his side. They were filled...

John 20: 11 – 18  (NLT) Jesus Appears to Mary Magdalene “Mary was standing outside the tomb crying, and as she wept, she stooped and looked in. 12 She saw two white-robed angels, one sitting at the head and the other at the foot of the place where the body of Jesus had been lying. 13 “Dear woman, why...

John 20: 1 – 10   (NLT) Early on Sunday morning, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and found that the stone had been rolled away from the entrance. 2 She ran and found Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved. She said, “They have taken the Lord’s body out...

John 19: 16 – 42  (NLT) The Crucifixion So they took Jesus away. 17 Carrying the cross by himself, he went to the place called Place of the Skull (in Hebrew, Golgotha). 18 There they nailed him to the cross. Two others were crucified with him, one on either side, with Jesus between them. 19 And Pilate posted a sign on the...