Daily Devotional Archives - www.HNewsWire.com

Watchman: Daily Devotional, A Rich Young Man Approached Jesus. He Inquired of Jesus Which Laws Were Necessary to Keep To Enter Into Heaven

Daily Devotional: Matthew 19:24-26 (NIV) 24 Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.” 25 When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished and asked, “Who then can be saved?” 26 Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” A rich young man approached Jesus. He inquired of Jesus which laws were necessary to keep to enter into heaven. Many Jews believed that if they could narrow down the laws to those most important to God, they would stand a better chance of getting into heaven. Jesus asked the man to sell all he owned, give it to the poor, and follow Him. This came at a time…

Watchman: Daily Devotional, “Hallowed Be Thy Name” (Matt. 6:9). Prayer Should Always Exalt God. Your Prayer Should Literally Begin and End With God

Daily Devotional: Psalm 102:15 says, “The nations will fear the name of the Lord, and all the kings of the earth Thy glory. The Disciples’ Prayer exemplifies the importance that God should place on our prayers. Jesus began by extolling the Father, saying, “Hallowed be Thy name” (v. 9), and then asked for the Father’s kingdom to come and His will to be done (v. 10). He ended with a praise song: “For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever, Amen” (v. 13). God is the beginning and finish of his prayer. “Hallowed be Thy name” extols the Lord’s name and establishes a tone of reverence and surrender that is maintained throughout the prayer. Wherever God’s name is honored, He will be loved and worshipped, His kingdom will be joyfully expected, and His will will be…

Watchman: Daily Devotional, After Jesus’ Exhortation on How to Approach One Who Has Sinned Against You, He Followed With a Parable of Forgiveness. The Parable Tells of a Master Forgiving an Insurmountable Debt

Daily Devotional: Matthew 18:33-35 (NIV) 33 Shouldn’t you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?’ 34 In anger his master turned him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed. 35″This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother from your heart.” Following Jesus’ exhortation on how to approach someone who has sinned against you, He told a tale about forgiveness. A master forgives an overwhelming debt in the parable. The master summoned his servant and chastised him for not showing mercy after being shown kindness. Every one of us bears witness to God’s mercy and grace. The parable teaches us to be kind to people who owe us money. Then, in the scripture for today, Jesus issued a harsh…

Watchman: Daily Devotional, “Our Father Who Art in Heaven” (Matt. 6:9).With God as Your Father, Your Life Has Eternal Significance

Daily Devotional: Poet Thomas Hardy said that prayer is useless because there’s no one to pray to except “that dreaming, dark, dumb thing that turns the handle of this idle show.” Voltaire described life as a bad joke. He added, “Bring down the curtain; the farce is done.” Such is the blasphemy and despair of all who insist that God is uninvolved in human affairs. The fatherhood of God was rejected by Greek and Roman intellectuals of Jesus’ day because it violated their philosophical theories. According to the Stoic thinkers, all gods were apathetic and had no emotions. According to Epicurean philosophy, the greatest characteristic of the gods was full calm, or perfect tranquility. To retain their peace, they needed to be completely removed from the human condition. All such errors are refuted by Scripture, which declares God to be…

Watchman: Daily Devotional, Prayer Begins With the Recognition That God Is Your Father and Has the Resources to Meet Your Needs

Daily Devotional: The term Father is one of the most commonly used terms in our prayers, and rightly so because that’s how Jesus taught us to pray. But as common as that term is to us, it was very uncommon to the people of Christ’s day. Back then, most individuals who worshiped false gods saw them as distant, unpredictable, and immoral beings to be feared. Even the Jewish people, who were supposed to understand God’s paternity, had distanced themselves from His Fatherly care via sin and apostasy. As a result, He appeared distant to them. Even those who claimed God as their Father were chastised by Christ, who referred to them as “children of the devil” because they rejected the Son (John 8:44). Christ’s teaching was revolutionary against this context. He described God as a kind and gracious Father who…

Watchman: Daily Devotional, Peter Had Just Been Commended for His Perception of the Revelation of God That Jesus Is the Messiah. Then Peter Became an Instrument of Satan

Daily Devotional: Matthew 16:21-23 (NIV) 21 From that time on Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life. 22 Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. “Never, Lord!” he said. “This shall never happen to you!” 23 Jesus turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men.” According to a study of Jesus’ historical biography, this turning point occurred just before the transfiguration. Three of the disciples would witness Jesus’ glory. Their eyes would corroborate what their hearts had…

Watchman: Daily Devotional, The Act of Confessing One’s Sins I Prayed to the Lord, Who Is My God, and I Confessed What I Had Done (Dan. 9:4). Confession Results in Forgiveness and Preserves the Integrity of God’s Character

Daily Devotional: Confessing your sins indicates that you agree with God that you have offended His holy character, are deserving of punishment, and require forgiveness. That is exactly what Daniel does in verses 5-16. “I was speaking and praying, and admitting my fault and the sin of my people Israel, and bringing my supplication before the Lord my God,” verse 20 says. Unlike some who face God’s chastisement, Daniel did not shift blame for Israel’s disaster. Instead, he recognized that his people had deliberately disregarded God’s Word and neglected His prophets, bringing wrath on themselves. They were once a God-blessed nation; now they were immigrants and captives in a foreign place. God had followed through on His vow to condemn them if they disobeyed Him (Deut. 28:15). Daniel examines the repercussions of Israel’s transgression in lines 12-15, including her imprisonment…

Watchman: Daily Devotional, In Luke 18, Jesus Told a Parable to People Who Trusted in Their Own Self-Righteousness. He Said, “Two Men Went Up Into the Temple to Pray, One a Pharisee and the Other a Tax-Gatherer

Daily Devotional: The Pharisee (Elitist of Today) stood and was praying thus to himself, ‘God, I thank Thee that I am not like other people: swindlers, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax-gatherer. I fast twice a week; I pay tithes of all that I get.’ “But the tax-gatherer (True Christian of Today), standing some distance away, was even unwilling to lift up his eyes to heaven, but was beating his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, the sinner!’ Jesus recounted a story in Luke 18 directed at those who put their faith in their own moral deeds. His words were, “One was a Pharisee and the other a tax collector, and they both ascended to the Temple Mount to pray. The Pharisee stood and said, “God, I thank Thee that I am not like other people: swindlers, unjust,…

Watchman: Daily Devotional, Your Fruitfulness Is Absolutely Related to Your Understanding of Divine Truth. “Bearing Fruit in Every Good Work and Growing in God’s Knowledge” (Col. 1:10)

Daily Devotional: Your Fruitfulness Is Directly Related to Your Knowledge of Divine Truth. Every farmer who enjoys a bountiful harvest does so only after a lot of hard work. He must cultivate the soil, plant the seed, and care for it till it matures. Each step is deliberate, disciplined, and systematic. Similarly, bearing spiritual fruit is not a spontaneous or unplanned process. It necessitates our diligence in obtaining knowledge of God’s will as revealed in His Word. It is the prayer of Paul in Colossians 1:9, which he repeats in verse 10. The phrase “growing in God’s understanding” (v. 10) might be rendered as “increasing by God’s knowledge.” Both versions are acceptable. The first emphasizes the urge to grow, whereas the second highlights the need of knowledge in spiritual progress. The Holy Spirit renews your mind and modifies your thinking…

Watchman: Daily Devotional, Men’s Religious Organizations Are Filled With Men’s Traditions and Teachings. Anyone of Us Can Lose Our Proper Focus and Get Into This Critical Mentality, Condemning Others for Not Following Man’s Ways

Daily Devotional: Matthew 15:7-9 (NIV) 7 You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you: 8″‘ These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. 9 They worship me in vain; their teachings are but rules taught by men.'” The faultfinding religious elites of Jesus’ day chastised Jesus’ disciples for not washing their hands before eating. In response to their allegation, Jesus asked them a question. He questioned why people ignored God’s laws because of their customs, citing various examples. They were looking for something to blame Jesus and His disciples for when they were the ones violating God’s Word. They said all the correct religious things, but their hearts were far from God. Religion was utilized to gain power, prestige, and pride. They had elevated man’s customs above God’s word. Men’s religious organizations…