Daily Devotion: Jesus Answered by Charles Spurgeon

Bible Reading: Matthew 11:25 KJV

Key Verse:  "At that time Jesus answered and said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes."
- Matthew 11:25 KJV

This is a singular way in which to commence a verse, "At that time, Jesus answered." If you will look at the context, you will not see that any person had asked Him a question, or that He was in conversation with any human being. Yet it is written, "Jesus answered and said, I thank You, O Father." When a man answers, he answers a person who has been speaking to him. Who, then, had spoken to Christ? His Father! Yet there is no record of it; and this should teach us that Jesus had constant fellowship with His Father, and that God spoke into His heart so often, so continually, that it was not a circumstance singular enough to be recorded. It was the habit and life of Jesus to talk with His Father.

Daily Devotion: Kabbalah by J.E. Smith

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Bible Reading: Acts 7:42-48 KJV

Key Verse:  "Yea, ye took up the tabernacle of Moloch, and the star of your god Remphan, figures which ye made to worship them..."
- Acts 7:43 KJV

Practitioners of the occult within Judaism codified their beliefs in a sub-religion that became known as Kabbalah. On the surface Kabbalism appears to be Judaism in reality which is the exact opposite of Judaism. The Kabbalah offers an occult counter explanation to the revelations of the Jewish prophets and the history of the Israelites. The Kabbalah depicts Moses as an occult figure whose purpose was to initiate the Israelites back into the more enlightened and advanced teachings of Egypt. Teachings of all secret societies flow through the Kabbalah.¹

Daily Devotion: Spiritual Hunger by J.C. Philpot

Bible Reading: Psalm 107:1-9 KJV

Key Verse: "For he satisfieth the longing soul, and filleth the hungry soul with goodness."
- Psalm 107:9 KJV

We find the living family of God sometimes set forth under the character of the 'hungry'. Let us see what they are hungering after. Is it pleasure, honor, promotion, respectability? O no; these toys and baubles cannot satisfy the spiritual hunger of a living soul. They cannot hunger after that on which they cannot feed. They hunger then after righteousness, as the Lord said--"Blessed are you who hunger and thirst after righteousness." They hunger after God himself in his blessed manifestations; they hunger after the bread of life which came down from heaven, that a man should eat thereof and not die.

Daily Devotion: Christ Enjoins The Forgiveness Of Enemies by Favell Lee Mortimer

Bible Reading: Matthew 5:40-48 KJV

Key Verse:  "But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;"
- Matthew 5:43 KJV

It is written in Lev. 19, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself." The Pharisees for many ages past had given a very imperfect explanation of this law. They had not explained the term "neighbor" aright. They had declared that it applied to those who loved us, and did not include those who hated us. But this was not true. Every human being is, in one sense, our neighbor. We are therefore commanded to love all. God had never said, "You shall hate your enemy;" for, though he had desired the Jews to form no friendships with heathen nations, he had never commanded them to hate or injure them from feelings of revenge. It was man who had added, "You shall hate your enemy." How easy it was to obey such a law! By nature we love our friends, and hate our enemies. As Christ said, "Even the publicans love those who love them." The publicans were people of very bad character, who generally defrauded in collecting the taxes, and who were therefore much despised—yet even they behaved with kindness and respect to their particular friends. The Pharisees had no reason to be proud of such righteousness as this.

Daily Devotion: Solomon's Heart by J. R. Miller

Bible Reading: 1 Kings 11:1-8 KJV

Key Verse:  "For it came to pass, when Solomon was old, that his wives turned away his heart after other gods: and his heart was not perfect with the Lord his God, as was the heart of David his father."
- 1 Kings 11:4 KJV

The Arabs have a tradition that for a long time a little worm was gnawing in the staff on which Solomon leaned, until at last the staff broke and the great king fell. It was at the king's heart—that the worm was really gnawing.

Daily Devotion: The Power Of Prayer by John MacDuff

Bible Reading: John 14:13 KJV

Key Verse:  "And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son."
- John 14:13 KJV

Blessed Jesus! it is You who has unlocked to Your people the gates of prayer. Without You, they must have been shut forever. It was Your atoning merit on earth that first opened them; it is Your intercessory work in Heaven that keeps them open still.

Daily Devotion: Saints Unknown, Stars Unseen by James Meikle

Bible Reading: Psalm 149:1-8 KJV

Key Verse:  "Praise ye the Lord. Sing unto the Lord a new song, and his praise in the congregation of saints."
- Psalm 149:1 KJV

As there are stars in the sparkling skies of heaven of different magnitudes and glory—so there are saints of different stations in the church of God. Some like stars of the first magnitude, point out the way to bliss; while others, like stars of a second, third, and fourth magnitude, sparkle with an upright walk, and heavenly conversation, and condemn a wicked world. All these glorify God, as it were, in an active manner.