Daily Hope Devotional

“But the angel reassured them. ‘Don’t be afraid!’ he said. ‘I bring you good news that will bring great joy to all people.’”  (Luke 2:10 NLT, second edition)  Knowing God is for you will change your whole perspective on life. You’ll stop thinking of God as someone looking down from Heaven, ready to yell “Gotcha!” any time you mess up. God is for your success in life; He created you for a purpose, and He wants you to succeed. It is God, your Creator, Who will measure your success in life and no one else. This is extremely good news! It means you don’t need to be afraid of God, because God is for you. Yet some people are so afraid of God they get nervous just talking about Him. Do you know why? They feel guilty, and then they start thinking, “If I get close to God, He’s going to lecture me. He’s going to remind me of all the things I’ve done wrong, and then I’ll feel even worse!” Nothing could be further from the truth. Jesus said,  “I did not come into the ...

We are commanded to serve God. Jesus was unmistakable: “Just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.” (‭‭Matthew‬ ‭20:28‬ ‭NASB‬‬) For Christians, service is not something to be tacked onto our schedules if we can spare the time. It is the heart of the Christian life. Jesus came “to serve” and “to give” — and those two verbs should define your life on Earth, too. Jesus taught that spiritual maturity is never an end in itself. Maturity is for ministry! We grow up in order to give out. It is not enough to keep learning more and more. We must act on what we know and practice what we claim to believe. Impression without expression causes depression. Study without service leads to spiritual stagnation. The old comparison between the Sea of Galilee and the Dead Sea is still true. Galilee is a lake full of life because it takes in water but also gives it out. In contrast, nothing lives in the Dead Sea because, with no outflow...

What is grace? That’s when God gives you what you need, not what you deserve. Grace is when God says, “I’m going to take your problem and make it My problem.” Grace is God’s Riches given to you At Christ’s Expense. The Bible says, “God saved you by His grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it” (Ephesians 2:8-9 NLT, second edition). In other words, you can’t earn your way to Heaven. You can’t work your way in. It’s just a gift. I know I don’t look like it today, but for three years I was a lifeguard. And every lifeguard knows you can’t save people as long as they are trying to save themselves. If somebody is drowning and flailing around in panic, a lifeguard knows to just stay back for a few seconds and wait until that person gives up. Because if you try to save others while they’re trying to save themselves, they will pull you under, too. Whe...

“Take on an entirely new way of life — a God-fashioned life, a life renewed from the inside and working itself into your conduct as God accurately reproduces His character in you.”  (Ephesians 4:22-24 MSG) Many religions and New Age philosophies promote the old lie that we are divine or can become gods. Let me be absolutely clear: You will never become God or even a god. That prideful lie is Satan’s oldest temptation. Satan promised Adam and Eve that if they followed his advice, “You shall be as gods” (Genesis 3:5 KJV). This desire to be a god shows up every time we try to control our circumstances, our future, and people around us. But as creatures, we will never be the Creator. God doesn’t want you to become a god; He wants you to become godly, taking on His values, attitudes, and character. We are meant to  “take on an entirely new way of life — a God-fashioned life, a life renewed from the inside and working itself into your conduct as God accurately reproduce...

God calls you to a service far beyond anything you could ever imagine. You were put on Earth to make a contribution. You weren’t created just to consume resources — to eat, breathe, and take up space. God designed you to make a difference with your life. You were created to add to life on Earth, not just take from it. God wants you to give something back. The Bible says, “God … has created us for a life of good deeds, which He has already prepared for us to do” (Ephesians 2:10 TEV). These “good deeds” are your service to the world. Whenever you serve others in any way, you are actually serving God (Colossians 3:23-24; Matthew 25:34-45; Ephesians 6:7). What God told Jeremiah is also true for you: “Before I made you in your mother’s womb, I chose you. Before you were born, I set you apart for a special work” (Jeremiah 1:5a NCV). When most people think of this “special work,” they think of pastors, priests, and professional clergy, but God says every member of his family is to ...

At the end of your life on Earth, you will stand before God, and He is going to evaluate how well you served others with your life. The Bible says, “Each of us will give a personal account to God” (Romans 14:12 NLT, second edition). Think about the implications of that. One day God will compare how much time and energy we spent on ourselves compared with what we invested in serving others. At that point, all our excuses for self-centeredness will sound hollow: “I was too busy” or “I had my own goals” or “I was preoccupied with working, having fun, or preparing for retirement.” To all excuses God will respond, “Sorry, wrong answer. I created, saved, and called you and commanded you to live a life of service. What part did you not understand?” The Bible warns unbelievers, “He will pour out His anger and wrath on those who live for themselves,” but for Christians it will mean a loss of eternal rewards (Romans 2:8a). We are only fully alive when we’re helping others. Jesus said...

Once you’re convinced that a daily quiet time is necessary for spiritual growth, how do you go about having one? You may be motivated to do it but don’t know how. Someone has said, “If you aim at nothing, you are sure to hit it!” To have a meaningful quiet time, you will need a plan or some kind of general outline to follow. The main rule is this: Keep your plan simple. First, make sure you have a Bible in a contemporary translation, a notebook for writing down what the Lord shows you and for making a prayer list, and a hymnbook in case you want to sing your praise. Then, follow these three simple steps: Relax, request, and read. 1. Wait on God (relax).  Be still for a minute; don’t come running into God’s presence and start talking immediately. Follow God’s admonition: “Be still, and know that I am God” (Psalm 46:10a NIV). Be quiet for a short time to put yourself into a reverent mood. 2. Pray briefly (request).  This is not your prayer time, but a short openin...

God’s purposes for your life aren’t just for here and now; they are forever and ever and ever. If you think this life is all there is, then you will set goals as if this life is all there is. On the other hand, if you realize one day you are going to stand before God — when He’s going to ask, “What did you do while you were on Earth? Did you learn the things I put you there to learn? Did you trust My Son?” — then it will shape how you look at your goals. Do your goals help you know God, grow in God, serve God, share God, love God, and tell others about God? What I’m asking you is, for instance, how do you pray? When you pray, do you pray to get God to help you with your own purpose or do you pray to align yourself with God’s purpose? If you say, “God, I just want to do what you put me on Earth to do,” I guarantee you, God will bless everything you touch, because He is looking for people He can use to fulfill His purposes. Godly goals have eternity in mind. Paul gives an exam...

Do you know what God created you for? Do you know what your destiny is? In order to fulfill your destiny, you must recognize the gifts God has given you to use. These are the cards you are dealt in life. They include the things you can’t control: your parents, your nationality, your race, your native language. They also include your SHAPE: your spiritual gifts, heart, abilities, personality, and experiences. These are the things that make you uniquely you. Now, you are not responsible for the gifts God didn’t give you. In other words, if you are not artistically gifted, you are not expected to paint pictures like Rembrandt. But you are responsible for the ones He did give you. When you get to Heaven, God isn’t going to compare you with anyone else, but He will compare you with yourself. What did you do with what you were given? What could you have done if you had trusted God a little bit more? Romans 14:12 says, “Each of us will give an account of ourselves to God” (NIV). E...

“Each of us finds our meaning and function as a part of His body.”   (Romans 12:5 MSG) You are going to give your life for something. What will it be — a career, a sport, a hobby, fame, wealth? None of these will have lasting significance. Service is the pathway to real significance. It is through ministry that we discover the meaning of our lives. The Bible says, “Each of us finds our meaning and function as a part of his body” (Romans 12:5 MSG). As we serve together in God’s family, our lives take on eternal importance. Paul said, “I want you to think about how all this makes you more significant, not less … because of what you are a part of” (1 Corinthians 12:14, 19). God wants to use you to make a difference in the world. He wants to work through you. What matters is not the duration of your life but the donation of it. Not how long you lived, but how you lived. If you’re not involved in any service or ministry, what excuse have you been using? Abraham was o...

The Bible uses the term “heart” to describe the bundle of desires, hopes, interests, ambitions, dreams, and affections that you have. Your heart represents the source of all your motivations — what you love to do and what you care about most. Even today, we still use the word in this way when we say, “I love you with all my heart.” The Bible says what is in your heart is what you really are: “As water reflects the face, so one’s life reflects the heart” (Proverbs 27:19 NIV). You are not what others think you are or what circumstances force you to be. Your heart is the real you. It determines why you say the things you do, why you feel the way you do, and why you act the way you do. Physically, each of us has a unique heartbeat. Just as we each have unique thumbprints, eye prints, and voiceprints, our hearts beat in slightly different patterns. It’s amazing that out of all the billions of people who’ve ever lived, no one has ever had a heartbeat exactly like yours. In the same...

“Your lives are echoing the Master’s Word …. The news of your faith in God is out. We don’t even have to say anything anymore — you’re the message!”  (1 Thessalonians 1:8 MSG) God has put a life message within you. When you became a believer, you also became God’s messenger. God wants to speak to the world through you. You may think you don’t have anything to share, but that’s the Devil trying to keep you silent. You have a storehouse of experiences that God wants to use to bring others into His family. The Bible says, “ Those who believe in the Son of God have the testimony of God in them” (1 John 5:10a GW). Here’s one thing that will help you prepare to share: Write down the major life lessons you’ve learned. We should be grateful Solomon did this, because it gave us the books of Proverbs and Ecclesiastes, which are filled with practical lessons on living. Imagine how much needless frustration could be avoided if we learned from each other’s life lessons. Here ar...

“Oh, yes,You shaped me first inside, then out …. You know me inside and out, You know every bone in my body; You know exactly how I was made, bit by bit …. Like an open book, You watched me grow from conception to birth; all the stages of my life were spread out before You, the days of my life all prepared before I’d even lived one day.”   (Psalm 139:13-16 MSG) God never wastes an experience. Romans 8:28 reminds us, “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose” (NIV). At Church, we help people consider five areas of experience that will influence the kind of ministry they are best shaped for: 1) Educational experiences: What were your favorite subjects in school? 2) Vocational experiences: What jobs have you enjoyed and achieved results while doing? 3) Spiritual experiences: What have been the meaningful or decisive times with God in your life? 4) Ministry experiences: How have you served ...

When it comes to planning, many Christians act like atheists. They realize Jesus saved them, but they don’t really trust Him. They think they can plan their life any way they want to. But the reality is God created everyone, and He made each person for a unique purpose. He has a specific destiny for everyone. God had a plan for Mary. He chose her, and He created her to become the mother of the Son of God. And what was Mary’s response? She didn’t say, “I’ve got my own plans for my life. I’m too busy. I have to do what’s best for me.” No, she realized God had a purpose for her life, and she was willing to do whatever He wanted. Her response was a song of praise: “My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior” (Luke 1:46b-47 NIV). Mary recognized that God was her Lord and Savior, and she was eager to do His will. She trusted Him with her life, even though she knew no one would believe her when she told them what the angel said. Do you trust that God has ma...

“Even though you are temporarily harassed by all kinds of trials …. This is no accident — it happens to prove your faith, which is infinitely more valuable than gold.”   (1 Peter 1:6-7 Phillips) Life is not a series of random, freak accidents. Life is not totally unplanned. Life is not without meaning. God knows what’s going on. He’s weaving the tapestry of your life, and it has light and dark threads — happy and sad times — to give richness and texture and color to your life. Nothing can come into the life of a child of God without God’s permission. Everything is Father‑filtered. Don’t misunderstand. I am not saying that everything that happens to you in life is God’s perfect will. That’s just not true. There are a lot of things that are not God’s will. If you go out and sin, that’s not God’s will. If somebody sins against you, that’s not God’s perfect will. But God does have a permissive will. If I go out and I overeat, I pay the consequences. If I go out and wreck my...

You may understand that a daily quiet time is necessary for spiritual growth and be motivated to do it, but how do you go about having one? You have to start with the proper attitudes. In God’s eyes, why you do something is far more important than what you do. On one occasion God told Samuel, “The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart” (1 Samuel 16:7 NIV). It is quite possible to do the right thing but with the wrong attitude. When you come to meet with God in a quiet time, you should have these proper attitudes: Expectancy:  Come before God with anticipation and eagerness. Expect to have a good time of fellowship with Him and receive a blessing from your time together. That was what David expected: “You, God, are my God, earnestly I seek You” (Psalm 63:1). Reverence:  Don’t rush into God’s presence, but prepare your heart by being still before Him and letting the quietness clear...

God says your salvation is no accident. He chose you long before you chose Him. He took the initiative. The Bible says in 1 Peter 1:2, “You were chosen according to the purpose of God” (TEV). Why would God choose you or me to be a part of his family? Because He is a God of love. He is a God of grace. The more you understand grace, the more you’re going to be amazed by it. God chose you. Did you deserve it? Not a chance. Do you deserve to go to Heaven? No way! Are you good enough to be in God’s family? No. He just chose you. And that’s good news! On what basis did He choose you? “For it is His boundless mercy that has given us the privilege of being born again so that we are now members of God’s own family” (1 Peter 1:3 TLB). God chose you based on His mercy, not your performance. You’ll never earn it. You’ll never deserve it. You couldn’t work hard enough for it. You couldn’t be perfect enough. It’s only because of God’s grace and mercy that the Creator of the universe says,...

We worship God when we give Him our lives every time we pray. Jesus teaches that when we pray, we should commit ourselves to God’s will. God has a specific will for your life. The Bible says in Romans 12:2 that His will is good and perfect and it fits you. Part of connecting with God is saying, “God, what is your will for Me today? I want to do your will.” In Heaven, God’s will is done perfectly. The problem on Earth is God’s will is not always done. That’s why we’re to pray, “Your will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven.” We’re saying, “God, I want to submit to You. I want to do what You want me to do.” You can pray “Your will be done” in three different ways. You can say it in resentment: “Your will be done, but I don’t like it.” You can say it in resignation: “Your will be done, because I can’t help it.” Or you can say it in anticipation: “Your will be done, because I know it is the best, and that’s what I want for my life today!”  I was a kid, we watched a popular T...

Knowing God is for you will change your whole perspective on life. You’ll stop thinking of God as someone looking down from Heaven, ready to yell “Gotcha!” any time you mess up. God is for your success in life. He created you for a purpose, and He wants you to succeed. It is God, your Creator, Who will measure your success in life, and no one else. This is extremely good news! It means you don’t need to be afraid of God, because God is for you. Yet some people are so afraid of God they get nervous just talking about Him. Do you know why? They feel guilty, and then they start thinking, “If I get close to God, He’s going to lecture me. He’s going to remind me of all the things I’ve done wrong, and then I’ll feel even worse!” Nothing could be further from the truth of God. John 3:17 says, “ For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him ” (NIV). In effect, Jesus is saying, “I didn’t come to scold you. I came to save you.” J...

You need to be connected to a church family so you can fulfill your calling to serve other believers in practical ways. The Bible says, “ All of you together are Christ’s body, and each of you is a part of it ” (1 Corinthians 12:27 NLT, second edition). Your service is desperately needed in the Body of Christ — just ask any local church! Each of us has a role to play, and every role is important. There is no small service to God; it all matters. Likewise, there are no insignificant ministries in the church. Some are visible and some are behind the scenes, but all are valuable. Small or hidden ministries often make the biggest difference. In my home, the most important light is not the large chandelier in our dining room but the little night-light that keeps me from stubbing my toe when I get up at night. In the same way, there is no correlation between size and significance when it comes to service in the Body of Christ. Every ministry matters because we are all dependent on e...