Our Devotionals come from Love Worth Finding, the ministry founded by Adrian Rogers who has since graduated to Glory. These are so relevant even today!

The Diamond of Grace on Black Velvet TODAY'S DAILY DEVOTIONAL July 09, 2025 “Now Jephthah the Gileadite was a mighty man of valor, but he was the son of a harlot; and Gilead begot Jephthah.” JUDGES 11:1 PONDER THIS Not every person used by God has a great background. This man had a bad birth and bad background, but he was going to be used by God. Even if we look back and feel like our birth was a mistake, we can be born again and become a royal blueblood, a child of the King. If you've had a rough background, that may be the black velvet on which the diamond of God’s grace is displayed. Many people in Scripture rose up out of great difficulty to great power. Think of Joseph. He was disowned by his brothers, sold as a slave, lied about, slandered, and left in prison, but his abasement was God’s plan for his advancement. The Lord will often humble people before He exalts them. The power of God is greater than all the odds stacked against you, and the grace of God is greater than all your sins. It’s time to stop making alibis and excuses. Here was a man who had a bad background, but God used Him anyway. What was special was what Jephthah did in the face of those difficulties. It is time to disentangle yourself from the past. Quit trying to say, “I’m just a victim. I’m just a bundle of bad genes, or a victim of psychological muddles,” and instead say, “I can be what I should be by the grace of God.” What are some things in your background that feel like a mistake? How has God redeemed those things? PRACTICE THIS Talk to someone who loves Jesus but has come from a tough background. Ask that person to share his or her testimony with you.

When We Forget God TODAY'S DAILY DEVOTIONAL July 08, 2025 “So it was, as soon as Gideon was dead, that the children of Israel again played the harlot with the Baals, and made Baal-Berith their god. Thus the children of Israel did not remember the Lord their God, who had delivered them from the hands of all their enemies on every side; nor did they show kindness to the house of Jerubbaal (Gideon) in accordance with the good he had done for Israel.” JUDGES 8:33-35 PONDER THIS When we look at this passage, it is clear there was a spiritual decline. Gideon had won a victory. How does spiritual decline happen after a victory? You would think that the people would be grateful and praise God so much that they would never face decline again, but they turned from God. After Gideon died, their loyalty to God died away too, and they turned to a fertility God. They turned to immorality, and the children of Israel remembered not the Lord their God who had delivered them out of the hand of their enemies on every side. Isn’t that pitiful? God had given them a wonderful, wonderful victory, but they forgot it. They remembered it not. It is easy for us to judge, but how easy is it for us to fall into this same trap? When we forget God, we quickly desert loyalty to Him. What are some things that you easily forget about God? What makes it easy to forget? When have you felt far from God? What were some truths you forgot about Him in that time? PRACTICE THIS Write down the things that are easy for you to forget about God and ask for Him to help you remember.

Fear and Faith Can’t Coexist TODAY'S DAILY DEVOTIONAL July 07, 2025 “And the Angel of the Lord appeared to him, and said to him, ‘The Lord is with you, you mighty man of valor!’ Gideon said to Him, ‘O my lord, if the Lord is with us, why then has all this happened to us? And where are all His miracles which our fathers told us about, saying, “Did not the Lord bring us up from Egypt?” But now the Lord has forsaken us and delivered us into the hands of the Midianites.’ Then the Lord turned to him and said, ‘Go in this might of yours, and you shall save Israel from the hand of the Midianites. Have I not sent you?’” JUDGES 6:12-14 PONDER THIS Fear is infectious. When Moses sent out the twelve spies (Numbers 13), ten came back and gave a fearful report and nobody wanted to go into the land. In churches today, we are always faced with people who are fearful, who don’t believe God can do what He says. 2 Timothy 1:7 says, “God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.” The Bible says we are not to be terrified by our adversaries because “He who is in [us] is greater than he who is in the world” (1 John 4:4). Some reading this could teach, but you don’t teach because you're afraid. All are called to give, but perhaps you don't give because you’re afraid. All should witness, but perhaps you don’t witness because you’re afraid. If that is you, you need to know something important: Fear and faith don’t live in the same heart. Fear will conquer faith or faith will conquer fear. One will conquer the other. How can you live in faith? You need to do what Gideon did and see the Lord. Look at God. See who God is and, after you’ve seen God, see if anything else seems too big to you. How have you lived in fear? How has fear hindered you? What does it look like for faith to overcome fear? How has faith made a difference in your life? PRACTICE THIS Talk to a mentor or trusted friend about a time when he or she pursued faith over fear.

The Tide is Sure to Win TODAY'S DAILY DEVOTIONAL July 06, 2025 “And Barak said to her, ‘If you will go with me, then I will go; but if you will not go with me, I will not go!’” JUDGES 4:8 PONDER THIS I love the ocean, and I love to watch the tide come in. Poet Priscilla Leonard once wrote, “On the far reef the breakers recoil in shattered foam, while still the sea behind them urges its forces home. Its song of triumph surges o’er all the thunderous din: The wave may break in failure, but the tide is sure to win. . . . Oh! Mighty sea, thy message in changing spray is cast. Within God’s plans of progress, it matters not at last how wide the shores of evil, how strong the reefs of sin. The wave may be defeated, but the tide is sure to win.” The same God who has programmed the planets to produce that undefeatable tide is the God who has programmed your life. When you get in league with God, when you say, “I’ll do what Barak did; I will hear the Word of God; I will believe the God of that Word, and I will live by that Word; and whether I see it now, or whether I see it later, I know that I know that I know,” then you can be confident. So, let’s be confident and prioritize seeking His way over our own. How can you look to God’s way instead of your own? What is difficult about doing that? Why is it worth it? How does God’s victory help you pursue Him? PRACTICE THIS Discuss with a friend some of the ways you have served God in the past and the areas that feel scary or intimidating. Lift these things up to God and ask Him to direct you.

Satan Sails a Sinking Ship TODAY'S DAILY DEVOTIONAL July 05, 2025 “They fought from the heavens; the stars from their courses fought against Sisera. The torrent of Kishon swept them away, that ancient torrent, the torrent of Kishon. O my soul, march on in strength!” JUDGES 5:20-21 PONDER THIS What does the phrase, “The stars from their courses fought against Sisera” mean? It means the fight was fixed. Sisera did not have a chance because God gave the victory. Sin can’t win and faith can’t fail. The whole Universe is against the person who is against God. All of creation is for God, and all of creation lives in submission to God and His created order. Don’t ever get the idea that you can sin successfully. Don’t ever get the idea that you can trust in God in vain. God lined the stars up behind Barak. God lined the whole Universe behind him. Satan sails a sinking ship. Satan rules a doomed domain. As the Psalmist says, “Some trust in chariots, and some in horses; but we will remember the name of the Lord our God” (Psalm 20:7). Believing this transforms how we see success. Success is finding out which way God is moving and joining Him. This changes the way we pursue our dreams and think about the future, and even the way we pray. We stop trying to see things from a perspective of primarily what we want and start to see things considering what He is doing. We go to Him for direction instead of finding our own way. What does success look like through a God-honoring view? How have you defined success in the past? How is that different from God’s perspective? What would it look like to pursue godly success in the future? PRACTICE THIS Talk to God and ask Him to lead you in His success and direction.

Clarity for the Road Ahead TODAY'S DAILY DEVOTIONAL July 04, 2025 “And the Angel of the Lord appeared to him, and said to him, ‘The Lord is with you, you mighty man of valor!’ Gideon said to Him, ‘O my lord, if the Lord is with us, why then has all this happened to us? And where are all His miracles which our fathers told us about, saying, “Did not the Lord bring us up from Egypt?” But now the Lord has forsaken us and delivered us into the hands of the Midianites.’ Then the Lord turned to him and said, ‘Go in this might of yours, and you shall save Israel from the hand of the Midianites. Have I not sent you?’” JUDGES 6:12-14 PONDER THIS Gideon was threshing wheat, hunkered down hiding away in a winepress, afraid of the Midianites, and God appeared to him. He had a vision of the Almighty. Gideon was living in defeat and fear until he took his eyes from the enemy and put his eyes on God. You may say, “I wish God would speak to me as he spoke to Gideon through the angel of the Lord.” But you have something better than Gideon ever had. You have the Word of God, and you have the Holy Spirit of God living in you. It is a lie from the enemy that God is not speaking. God is speaking. Do you want to hear? Are you ready to listen to what God is saying? You will never have victory in your life, at home, in school, in business, in your neighborhood, in the Church, or in society until you get a vision of Almighty God. When we walk with Him and hear from Him, we see everything else more clearly. When have you struggled with a path forward through a difficult time? Where did you turn for help? What is your relationship with God like right now? Are you close enough to Him to hear Him speak? PRACTICE THIS Spend time with God in silence, listening for His voice and direction for your life.

Faith Is a Verb TODAY'S DAILY DEVOTIONAL July 03, 2025 “Then she sent and called for Barak the son of Abinoam from Kedesh in Naphtali, and said to him, ‘Has not the Lord God of Israel commanded, “Go and deploy troops at Mount Tabor; take with you ten thousand men of the sons of Naphtali and of the sons of Zebulun; and against you I will deploy Sisera, the commander of Jabin’s army, with his chariots and his multitude at the River Kishon; and I will deliver him into your hand”?’ And Barak said to her, ‘If you will go with me, then I will go; but if you will not go with me, I will not go!’ So she said, ‘I will surely go with you; nevertheless there will be no glory for you in the journey you are taking, for the Lord will sell Sisera into the hand of a woman.’ Then Deborah arose and went with Barak to Kedesh.” JUDGES 4:6-9 PONDER THIS Where does faith come from? Romans 10:17 says, “Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” Faith is hearing God and believing God. That’s the origin of Barak’s faith. The object of his faith was the Lord God of Israel. Verse 6 says, “Has not the Lord God of Israel commanded?” People say, “Just have faith.” I ask, “Faith in what?” You can’t have faith unless it is faith in God. The origin of your faith is the Word of God. The object of your faith is the God of that Word. The Bible says in Mark 11:22, “Have faith in God.” What is faith? It’s not positive thinking; that’s faith in faith. It’s not believing you can do it; that's faith in yourself. Have faith in God. What is faith? Faith is hearing from God, trusting in God, and obeying God. Deborah, a prophetess, said this is what God said. Barak heard it. Barak believed it. Then in verse 8 he said, “I will go.” Do you know the difference between belief and faith? Faith is belief with legs on it; it is a verb more than a noun. What are some practical examples of what it looks like to have faith in God? When has it been hard for you to have faith in God? Why? PRACTICE THIS Discuss with another Christian what it looks like to have faith in God. Consider what step of faith you need to take today.

Further Than You Want to Go TODAY'S DAILY DEVOTIONAL July 02, 2025 “Beware, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God; but exhort one another daily, while it is called ‘Today,’ lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.” HEBREWS 3:12-13 PONDER THIS There was a man named Larry Waters. He lived about six or seven miles from the LAX airport. Every Saturday afternoon he’d sit in his lawn chair, but after a while he got bored and decided he would do something different. So, he decided he would get some balloons and tie them to his lawn chair so he could float up about a hundred feet over his neighbors’ backyards. He bought forty-two weather balloons, had them filled with helium, and tied them all to his lawn chair. He shot up not one-hundred feet, but sixteen thousand feet. Straight up! Those watching didn’t know what to do. They sent up helicopters. They couldn’t get him down. Larry Waters stayed at sixteen thousand feet for four hours. That’s so much like us with sin. We think, “I’m just going a hundred feet. I’m just going to do something my neighbors are not doing. It’s going to elevate me just a little bit. And I’m just going to skim over this neighborhood.” But here is the thing: Sin will take you further than you want to go; it’ll keep you longer than you want to stay; and it will cost you more than you want to pay. You think it will get you somewhere, but it won’t get you anywhere close to where you want to be. When has sin taken you beyond where you wanted to go? What were the consequences? How have you felt the fallout and hurt from sin? How do we deal with our sinful behaviors according to Scripture? PRACTICE THIS Confess to God the sin you are wrestling with; ask Him to help you walk away from that sin.

Telling the Next Generation TODAY'S DAILY DEVOTIONAL July 01, 2025 “Then the Angel of the Lord came up from Gilgal to Bochim, and said: ‘I led you up from Egypt and brought you to the land of which I swore to your fathers; and I said, “I will never break My covenant with you. And you shall make no covenant with the inhabitants of this land; you shall tear down their altars.” But you have not obeyed My voice. Why have you done this?’” JUDGES 2:1-2 PONDER THIS The angel said to the people, “Why have you done this?” God said, “I gave you everything. I brought you out of Egypt. I went with you to give you victory. I said not to make any league with the people who live in this land, and yet you’ve disobeyed me.” The later verses answer this question for us. Judges 2:7 says, “So the people served the Lord all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders who outlived Joshua, who had seen all the great works of the Lord which He had done for Israel.” If they saw God working, they served Him. Joshua, the people with Joshua, and Joshua's descendants served the Lord. But then “another generation arose after them who did not know the Lord nor the work which He had done for Israel” (Judges 2:10). Time passed and the faith had not been shared. The generation speculated. The people had grown so distant from the memory of God’s provision that they stopped depending on Him. They took matters into their own hands. Are you depending on God’s provision just as firmly as you did from the beginning? Are you passing down your faith to the next generation, or have they missed how important this is to you? What makes it easy to forget the way of God? How are you clinging to God right now? How are you passing on your faith to the next generation? PRACTICE THIS Write down some ways God has worked in your life and share that with someone in the next generation.

God Runs Faster TODAY'S DAILY DEVOTIONAL June 30, 2025 “For of Him and through Him and to Him are all things, to whom be glory forever. Amen.” ROMANS 11:36 PONDER THIS The only reason we know God is because He sought us. We love Him because He first loved us. By nature, we are all running from God. If God couldn’t run faster than us, none of us would be saved. This is salvation: He first loves us. He takes the initiative. He brings us to Himself. We have nothing to boast. We live the Christian life through the power He gives, and one day we are going back to Him. For of Him, by Him, through Him, and to Him are all things. It is the same thing in sanctification. It all begins with Him. I used to think as a young Christian that if I could just be good enough, clean enough, and pure enough, then maybe God would fill me with the Holy Spirit. That was foolish. There is no way to live the Christian life apart from the fullness of the Holy Spirit. That doesn’t mean I can cling to sin and have God fill me. But it does mean holiness is not the way to God; God is the way to holiness. When we need to borrow a loan, we go to the bank to show we can cover our debt. That’s not how God works. We come to Him empty-handed and say, “Lord, I am in a mess.” And God says, “I am the One who put that desire in your heart, and I am going to fill you with the Holy Spirit.” What are some ways you have tried to grow in your faith in your own strength? What happened? What are some ways you can remind yourself to depend on God daily? PRACTICE THIS Set up practical reminders around your home to help you depend on God daily.

The Morning Star of Hope TODAY'S DAILY DEVOTIONAL June 29, 2025 “And so we have the prophetic word confirmed, which you do well to heed as a light that shines in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts.” 2 PETER 1:19 PONDER THIS Remember the resource of revelation. If we’re to know God, God is going to have to reveal Himself to us. The finite can never understand the infinite unless the infinite explains and reveals Himself to the finite. Even if the Scriptures are perfect—and they are—we must be able to understand them. And God knows that. This Scripture that is inspired also illuminates. It shines into our hearts and gives light. The word dark in this verse doesn’t mean dark like you turn out the lights; it means being squalid, murky, dirty, or filthy. When Peter says, “until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your heart,” he’s not talking about the Second Coming of Jesus; he’s talking about the sunrise of the soul. You have that dark, squalid, murky, filthy place in your heart, but the inspired Word of God shines into your heart, into that dark place, and reveals the Lord Jesus. The Holy Spirit takes the curtain of your skepticism, pulls it aside, pins it with a star of hope, and floods your heart with Gospel light. He did that for me and for you. You have the inspiration of the Word of God and the illumination of the Word of God. What are some ways God has shined His light on the dark places in your heart? Who around you is struggling with doubts and problems? What can you do to point them to God’s illuminating Word? PRACTICE THIS Encourage someone else with God’s Word today.

Chicken Coops and God’s Creation TODAY'S DAILY DEVOTIONAL June 28, 2025 “For when Gentiles, who do not have the law, by nature do the things in the law, these, although not having the law, are a law to themselves, who show the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and between themselves their thoughts accusing or else excusing them.” ROMANS 2:14-15 PONDER THIS Suppose my father is a master builder. He can build the most beautiful houses, buildings, and skyscrapers you’ve ever seen. Suppose I study his work, and I watch very carefully to observe everything he does. I see his methods and his techniques. Then I take my father’s materials, tools, and plan, but rather than building a magnificent skyscraper, I build a chicken coop. When I’m finished building with my father’s plans, materials, and tools, I step back and say, “You see that chicken coop? That proves my father doesn’t exist.” That’s often what we do with the things we make. We take God’s tools, God’s materials, and God’s plans and make—compared to God’s creation—a chicken coop, then say, “Look what we have done!” All we have is from Him. What we make pales in comparison to His creation. When you present the case of your faith, whether in a college philosophy class or talking to your neighbor, you don’t have to be intimidated. You don’t have to be nervous and hesitant about sharing the hope that is in you. Be bold! Creation says there is a God; design says there is a God; the moral law of the Universe says there is a God; and even the very things we make each day say there is a God! What are some things you see every day that point to God? What are the ways you can acknowledge God in daily conversation? PRACTICE THIS Seek to point to God and acknowledge who He is with someone who does not yet know Him.

Forget the Math TODAY'S DAILY DEVOTIONAL June 27, 2025 “Then Peter came to Him and said, ‘Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? Up to seven times?’ Jesus said to him, ‘I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven.’” MATTHEW 18:21-22 PONDER THIS When we hear the call to forgiveness, we often ask the same question Peter did. Where are the limits of forgiveness? When can I let go of the responsibility to forgive? Peter was asking when he could finally be done with forgiveness. But Jesus said, “This is not a matter of mathematics. When considering forgiveness, forget the arithmetic.” Jesus said, “Seventy times seven.” And this doesn’t mean precisely 490 times, either; it means forgiveness to the point of losing track of how many times it has been. If the person repents, you forgive him or her again. If that is how you forgive, you’re not keeping a record, so every time you forgive seems like the first time. It’s not the seventh time or the eighth time because the other times don’t count. They’re gone. You’re not keeping score. Love does not keep a record of wrongs. So, you forgive freely before it becomes an infection. Forgive freely, forgive fully, and forgive finally. When have you struggled with forgiveness? What makes forgiveness challenging? How does knowing Jesus change the way we view forgiveness? What does it look like practically to forgive someone fully? Have you ever forgiven someone like that? If you have, what was that like? If not, what steps do you need to take toward full forgiveness? PRACTICE THIS Identify anyone you are harboring bitterness for. Ask God to help you forgive completely.

Taking the Step Toward Reconciliation TODAY'S DAILY DEVOTIONAL June 26, 2025 “Moreover if your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone. If he hears you, you have gained your brother.” MATTHEW 18:15 PONDER THIS What does the Bible say to do when people trespass against you? Go to them. You lovingly visit and confront them. How are you to visit them? Do so privately. When people sin against you, don’t gossip about them. Address your grievances with them, talk to them, and take the step toward forgiveness and reconciliation. Human nature says, “He sinned against me. If he wants me to forgive him, let him come to me.” But when we look at Scripture, we are called to live differently. Am I supposed to seek reconciliation and forgiveness? Absolutely. Why? Because the Bible says we’re to be kind, tenderhearted, forgiving one another. How? As God forgave us. Romans 5:8 says, “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” In response, when someone sins against us, we do not have the luxury of waiting for them to come to us. We go to them as Christ has come to us. How do you respond when you have an argument with someone? What are some ways you move away from people instead of moving toward them? What is most challenging for you about moving toward reconciliation? How can God help you with that challenge? PRACTICE THIS Have a conversation with someone you have been at odds with. Be intentional about showing the love and forgiveness of Christ.