Daily Devotion: Eternal Consequences Of Critical Choices by Wil Pounds

Bible Reading: Romans 6:16-23 KJV 

Key Verse:  "For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord."
- Romans 6:23 KJV

“The wages of sin is death.”  Those are startling words. The only wages sin pays results in death spiritually and eternally. The wages of sin is death spiritually. That means spiritual eyes that cannot see God, spiritual ears that cannot hear His voice. It means a spiritual heart that is hardened to God and cannot respond to the atoning sacrifice of His Son.

Daily Devotion: An Everlasting Covenant by Octavius Winslow

Bible Reading: Isaiah 55:1-8 KJV 

Key Verse:  "Incline your ear, and come unto me: hear, and your soul shall live; and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies of David."
- Isaiah 55:3 KJV

God had promised David that he would sit upon the throne of his fathers that the kingdom of Israel, rent from Saul, should be transferred to his government. But the crown and the scepter thus promised loomed in the distance, almost enshrouded from view by dark intervening clouds. The promise seemed as a dead letter. The providence of God appeared to clash with and to contradict the promise of God. But, in the history of His Church, the providences of the divine government are not the exponents of the promises of the Divine Governor. 

Daily Devotion: The Wrath To Come by Charles Spurgeon

Bible Reading: Matthew 3:1-8 KJV 

Key Verse:  "But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees come to his baptism, he said unto them, O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come?"
- Matthew 3:7 KJV

It is pleasant to pass over a country after a storm has spent itself; to smell the freshness of the herbs after the rain has passed away, and to note the drops while they glisten like purest diamonds in the sunlight. That is the position of a Christian. He is going through a land where the storm has spent itself upon His Savior's head, and if there are a few drops of sorrow falling, they distill from clouds of mercy, and Jesus cheers him by the assurance that they are not for his destruction.

Daily Devotion: Jesus' Two Great Commandments by J.E. Smith

Bible Reading: Matthew 22:32-40 KJV 

Key Verse:  "On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets."
- Matthew 22:40 KJV

When asked which commandment was the greatest, Jesus did not hesitate. He did not choose a ceremonial law or a complex rule. He chose love. These two commandments are not suggestions. They are the foundation. Jesus said that all the Law and the Prophets hang on them. Every command, every teaching, every moral instruction flows from loving God and loving others.

Daily Devotion: I Will Go In To The King by J.C. Philpot

Bible Reading: Esther 4:10-17 KJV

Key Verse:  "Go, gather together all the Jews that are present in Shushan, and fast ye for me, and neither eat nor drink three days, night or day: I also and my maidens will fast likewise; and so will I go in unto the king, which is not according to the law: and if I perish, I perish."
- Esther 4:16 KJV

When we are in darkness, under distress of conscience, or when guilt lies hard and heavy upon the soul, these things do, and must until removed, keep us back from the Lord. But are we ever to give heed to these enemies of our soul's peace? Are we never to press through the crowd? How was it with the man who was paralyzed for so many years? He might forever have lain helpless upon his bed, had he not been brought into the presence of Jesus. How with the woman with the issue of blood? She might forever have tarried on the skirts of the crowd, a poor, polluted, self-condemned wretch. But she pressed through the crowd, and got to touch the hem of Jesus' garment.

Daily Devotion: The Parable Of The Fishing-Net by Favell Lee Mortimer

Bible Reading: Matthew 13:47-54 KJV 

Key Verse:  "Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a net, that was cast into the sea, and gathered of every kind:"
- Matthew 13:47 KJV

The parable of the net cast into the sea was calculated particularly to interest the disciples, many of whom were fishermen. They were accustomed, after the toils of the day, to sort the fish they had taken. This employment affords a lively image of the distinctions that will be made at the last day. The net represents the word of the Gospel, which is preached to many, and which many profess to believe. The disciples were shortly to begin the work of preaching it. Great success would accompany their endeavors; but yet that success would be attended by much disappointment. Many to whom they preached would prove hypocrites. Some of these would be detected in their lifetime, but others not until the judgment-day.

Daily Devotion: Your Labor Is Not In Vain by J. R. Miller

Bible Reading: 1 Corinthians 15:58 KJV 

Key Verse:  "Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord."
- 1 Corinthians 15:58 KJV

Jesus walks no more among men, doing his deeds of love—but he sends his followers forth to do the works in his name. We ought to abound in all loving ministry just as he did. It is not enough to be good, gentle, sweet, amiable, kindly, patient. It is beautiful to live such a life; and its influence is far-reaching, like the fragrance of Mary's ointment. But we must also be full of good works. We must be winners of souls. We must live to do good to men, to comfort sorrow, to feed hunger, to relieve distress, to cheer the disheartened, to break chains and liberate sin's captives, to stand up for the truth, to do battle for the right. We are to be like Christ, and we begin to be like Christ—only when we begin to be useful.