Christian Devotional

Do you ever get bored, overwhelmed, or discouraged when you look down at all you have to do or you look around you at situations that are disheartening? However, if we turn our face toward the exalted Lord, our heart and spirit are uplifted. Let the reality that you will one day be with the exalted Lord put a smile on your face. In the meantime… 

–  Look up and be excited that your salvation is a sure thing. “The LORD lives, and blessed be my rock; And exalted be God, the rock of my salvation” (2 Samuel 22:47). 

–  Look up with confidence when the world is tumultuous. “Cease striving and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth” (Psalm 46:10). 

–  Look up when it seems you’re losing a battle. “The right hand of the LORD is exalted; The right hand of the LORD does valiantly” (Psalm 118:16). 

– Look up when you’re around haughty people. “For though the LORD is exalted, Yet He regards the lowly, But the haughty He knows from afar” (Psalm 138:6). 

– Look up with excitement when thinking about heaven. “In the year of King Uzziah’s death I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, lofty and exalted, with the train of His robe filling the temple” (Isaiah 6:1).

 – Look up with confidence that Jesus is the One you should trust. “For this reason also, God highly exalted Him (Jesus), and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name” (Philippians 2:9). 

EXALTED Lord, looking to You puts a smile on my face. You are exalted above the heavens, yet care about me. Help me live in a way that reflects my love for You and brings You glory. 

Do you commute to work and want to listen to some encouraging teachings by Debbie while you drive? Let her podcasts on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, on Podbean help you set your mind on Christ before you start your day!

Do you ever worry about the end? A job ends. Time with loved ones ends. But there is One who has no beginning or end: God. 

In Psalm 90:2, Moses points out that God is everlasting. “Before the mountains were born or You gave birth to the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, You are God.” 

Jeremiah 10:10 refers to God as Everlasting King. “But the Lord is the true God; He is the living God and the Everlasting King.” 

Psalm 145:13 assures us His kingdom is everlasting. 

Habakkuk 3:6 points out that in addition to God’s kingdom being everlasting, His ways are everlasting. 

The prophet Isaiah personalizes the Everlasting God by calling Him “Everlasting Father” in Isaiah 9:6. 

Psalm 103:17 tells us God’s love is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear Him. 

Deuteronomy 33:27 says we can rest in God’s everlasting arms. 

If you ever feel a sense of loss or that everything dear to you is ending, remember that God will be with you forever and will be the same Everlasting Father that He has always been. 

Lord, You are the EVERLASTING God and Father in whose Everlasting Arms I can rest and in whose Everlasting Love and Kingdom I can live. I rejoice in You.

Do you ever wonder if we’re in the end times? Would you like to learn more about the signs of the end times? Grab a copy of Debbie’s Bible study, End Times: What You Should Know, What You Can Do HERE. Access the free accompanying videos and podcasts HERE.

During the peak of the 2021 COVID pandemic, someone shared with me the following regarding the dire conditions many faced. 

“Make no mistake. When loved ones are removed from your home by ambulance because the virus has hit them hard, you are not going to be able to sit by their hospital bed and hold their hand. You are not going to be able to pop in at 7:00 pm during visiting hours. They are going to have no one other than exhausted and brave hospital staff to see them through days or weeks. During that time, they will be completely alone. Imagine that person is someone you love dearly. Because it is a reality for many.” 

Disconcerting? Absolutely. Dire? Yes! What is our hope in such times? Is there any hope? Yes, we who have placed our faith in Jesus have the assurance that in even the darkest of times, our Eternal Father is with us (Isaiah 9:6).

Bible scholar and commentator Charles Ryrie explains that Eternal Father means “Messiah is eternally a Father to His people, guarding, supplying, and caring for their needs.” ¹ There could be no greater comfort in dire situations.

Do you have a relationship with the Eternal Father through Jesus Christ? If so, with whom might you share Him? 

ETERNAL FATHER, in the best of times and in the direst of times, thank You for being with me. Embolden me to share the assurance I have in You with others.

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¹ Charles Caldwell Ryrie, Ryrie Study Bible: New American Standard Bible, 1995 Update (Chicago: Moody Press, 2008).

Can you imagine if God ruled by whim, by ever-changing emotions and laws? What if on a whim, God decided to not forgive you? What if on a whim, God changed His mind about who was allowed in heaven? 

I think you might agree with me that we’re thankful that is not who God is. Rather, throughout the Bible, we are assured that God rules with equity, with evenness, and uprightness, as Psalm 9:1-8 points out. 

“I will give thanks to You, LORD, with all my heart; I will tell of all Your wonderful deeds. I will be glad and rejoice in You; I will sing the praises of Your name, O Most High. My enemies turn back; they stumble and perish before You. For You have upheld my right and my cause, sitting enthroned as the righteous judge. You have rebuked the nations and destroyed the wicked; You have blotted out their name for ever and ever. Endless ruin has overtaken my enemies, You have uprooted their cities; even the memory of them has perished. The LORD reigns forever; He has established His throne for judgment. He rules the world in righteousness and judges the peoples with equity.” 

Heavenly Father, thank You that I don’t have to worry that You rule by whim. Rather, I am assured that You are EQUITABLE in Your ruling, and I trust You. 

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How would you describe yourself? Would you ever use “door” to describe yourself? I certainly wouldn’t. But Jesus did. In John 10:9, He said, “I am the door; if anyone enters through Me, he will be saved.” 

Why would Jesus describe Himself as a door? He wants us to know that there is an “outside” of heaven and an “inside” of heaven. Heaven is a place, and we are “outside” until we go “into” heaven through Jesus. 

Make no mistake. Everyone will not live “in” heaven. Only those who enter through Jesus will be in heaven. Our Heavenly Father sends a personal invitation to everyone to enter eternal life in heaven through Jesus who paid our entrance fee by dying on the cross for our sins. Knocking on the door is not required. Repenting of sin and confessing Jesus as Lord is. 

Thank You, Lord Jesus, for being the DOOR through whom I can enter heaven and live eternally. 

Would you like to learn more about Jesus being the door to eternal life in Heaven? Watch Debbie’s teaching on John 10 by clicking HERE. As you learn more, record your prayers and praises in the Prayers of My Heart Praise and Prayer Journal. If you don’t have a copy, you can get one HERE. 

Divine. We often use the word casually. “The cake is divine!” “It was a divine vacation.” However, 2 Peter 1:3-4 uses the word “divine” in relation to God’s power and nature saying, “His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence.”

Peter continues, “For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, so that by them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust.” 

These are incredible truths for us to grasp. Christ’s divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness. Christ has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises so that by them we may become partakers of the divine nature. 

In other words, God’s intention is for us to live by His divine nature; not live a ho-hum or defeated life. Believers have God’s divine power through the Holy Spirit and God’s divine promises in the Bible. Are we living by them? 

Lord Jesus, DIVINE Holy One, thank You for Your divine power through the Holy Spirit and for Your divine precious and magnificent promises. I worship and adore You. 

Do you want to learn more about living by God’s divine nature? Grab a copy of Living by the Divine Nature Instead of Our Fallen Nature – 2 Peter Bible Study. It’s a 4-week, verse-by-verse study of 2 Peter that is sure to bless and encourage you as well as help strengthen your walk with the Lord. The study includes videos and podcasts, which can be accessed under “Bible Studies” on the homepage. 

¹ Copyright Herbert Lockyer, “All the Divine Names and Titles in the Bible,” page 80, Zondervan Publishing House, Grand Rapids, Michigan, 1975.

Are you familiar with the saying, “I’m your huckleberry”? Several summers ago, my husband, Keith, and I visited Glacier National Park. Right outside the park, we stopped at a restaurant that had everything huckleberry: huckleberry pie, huckleberry pancakes, huckleberry coffee. And for those of you who know Keith, you won’t be surprised that he wanted to buy me a T-shirt that said, “I’m your huckleberry.” I wasn’t quite sure what it meant to be someone’s huckleberry so I did a little research. To be one’s huckleberry is “to be just the right person for a given job or a willing executor of some commission.” ¹

What does any of this have to do with Jesus? There was only one person who could fulfill the righteous requirement of the law. Only one person could pay our sin debt. Only Jesus, “in whom all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form” (Colossians 2:9).

Jesus, in whom all the fullness of Deity dwelt in bodily form was “just the right person for the job” of saving us. Jesus is “just the right person” to empower us to live the Christian life. 

Are we rejoicing before Jesus? Are we daily thanking Him? Are we walking by His Spirit? 

Lord Jesus, One in whom all the fullness of DEITY dwells, God’s perfect provision and “just the right person for the job” of saving and sanctifying me, I love and praise You. 

Would you like to learn more about being led by God’s Spirit and become better equipped to discern God’s voice? Listen to this free podcast teaching: “Listen UP! 31 Points Every Christian Should Know About the Holy Spirit.”

Have you ever been without electricity and light for a significant period of time? In 2021, a winter storm in Texas caused our home to be without electricity for six days, during which I experienced darkness to a greater degree than ever before. Sitting in the darkness, I thought of what unbelievers will experience in eternity; forever separated from the light of Christ, who the prophet Zechariah referred to as the “Dayspring from on high” (Luke 1:78). 

What did Zechariah mean when he used the term “Dayspring from on high” in reference to Jesus? No doubt, “Dayspring” refers to what we would expect—the light of day. Jesus, the Dayspring of heaven, brought heaven’s glorious light to our dark world. He brought it not only to our world at large, but to us individually when we turn to Him. 

If you know someone who is not a believer, share with them that Jesus is the Dayspring from on High through whom they can have eternal light. 

If you are struggling with darkness, if your thoughts are dark, if your perspective is dark, turn your face to the Dayspring from on High. Ask Him to rid you of any darkness, of any sin, and to fill you with His glorious presence, the Dayspring from on High. 

Glorious DAYSPRING FROM ON HIGH, shine the light of Your presence on me and in me. Show me sins I need to confess. Forgive me. Fill me with the Light of Your presence.

Would you like some resources to help you triumph? Check out these books that can be read individually or used as group Bible studies: The Plan A Woman in a Plan B World and Pray with Purpose, Live with Passion.

Have you ever questioned the “why” behind God’s commands? If so, it helps to remember that God created us as Genesis 1:27 reminds us. “God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.” 

Our Creator knows what is best for us and what hurts us. Jesus’ commands such as those found in Matthew 6:34 not to worry and in Ephesians 4:31-32 to forgive and to put bitterness away from us are examples of our Creator’s instructions that serve our best interests. They help us have more peace, contentment, and joy. 

What can happen if we, the creation, ignore our Creator’s ways? Romans 1:24-25 warns us. “God gave them over in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, so that their bodies would be dishonored among them. For they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever.” 

God created us. His Word is our instruction manual; far more important than a car or appliance manual. If we want our life and relationship with Him and others to run smoothly, we’re wise to read and follow His instructions. How well are we following our Creator’s instructions? 

Heavenly Father, CREATOR, forgive me for too often ignoring Your instructions. Awaken me to the importance of reading and following Your holy teachings. 

Would you like to deepen your relationship with God? Discover the many resources on our website that can help you grow in your walk with the Lord. We offer several free resources, including podcasts, video teachings, listening guides, and more!