Daily Devotion: This Life A Valley Of Tears by James Meikle

Bible Reading: 1 John 2:15-22 KJV 

Key Verse:  "Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him."
- 1 John 2:15 KJV

Why have I mistaken this thorny wilderness—for a garden of flowers? Why have I mistaken this place of danger—for a palace of delight? Why have I mistaken this howling desert—for an enchanting grove? If the world has joys, it has none for me—they are carnal or unlawful. My joys must be pure and spiritual. If the creature affords pleasures, they cannot suit my soul—its honey is mixed with gall, its sweet with wormwood, its wine with water, its gold with dross—and all are mixed with poison. The pleasures I should seek are such as my soul may feed on without danger, feast on without excess, and rejoice in without sin.

Daily Devotion: Effectual Call of God by Wil Pounds

Bible Reading: John 6:44-51 KJV 

Key Verse:  "No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day."
- John 6:44 KJV

Have you responded to the effectual call of God to salvation? In his effort to encourage suffering Christians, the apostle Paul wrote, “For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified.” (Romans 8:29-30).

Daily Devotion: Love Your Neighbor by Octavius Winslow

Bible Reading: Matthew 5:41-48 KJV

Key Verse:  "Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy."
- Matthew 5:43 KJV

"Love your neighbor." Perhaps he rolls in riches—and you are poor, and living in your little cottage side-by-side with his lordly mansion. Every day you see his estates, his fine linen, and his sumptuous banquets. God has given him these gifts, covet not his wealth, and think no hard thoughts concerning him. Be content with your own lot, if you cannot better it—but do not look upon your neighbor, and wish that he were as yourself. Love him—and then you will not envy him.

Daily Devotion: Showers Of Blessing by Charles Spurgeon

Bible Reading: Ezekiel 34:24-31 KJV 

Key Verse:  "And I will make them and the places round about my hill a blessing; and I will cause the shower to come down in his season; there shall be showers of blessing."
- Ezekiel 34:26 KJV

Here is sovereign grace, "I will send down showers." Is it not sovereign, divine mercy—for who can say, "I will send down showers," except God? There is only one voice which can speak to the clouds, and bid them beget the rain, "Who sends down the rain upon the earth? Who scatters the showers upon the green herb? Do not I, the Lord?" Grace is the gift of God—and is not to be created by man.

Daily Devotion: Christ Risen The Firstfruits by J.C. Philpot

Bible Reading: 1 Corinthians 15:20-27 KJV 

Key Verse:  "But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept."
- 1 Corinthians 15:20 KJV

Christ risen is the firstfruits of that mighty crop of buried dead whose remains still sleep in the silent dust, and who will be joined by successive ranks of those who die in him, until all are together wakened up in the resurrection morn. The figure is that of the sheaf of the firstfruits which was waved before the Lord before the harvest was allowed to be reaped (Lev. 23:10, 11). This offering of the wave sheaf was the consecration and dedication of the whole crop in the field to the Lord, as well as the manifest pledge that the harvest was fully ripe for the reaper's sickle.

Daily Devotion: Parables Of The Mustard-Seed And Leaven by Favell Lee Mortimerw

Bible Reading: Matthew 13:31-35 KJV

Key Verse:  "Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is like to a grain of mustard seed, which a man took, and sowed in his field:"
- Matthew 13:31-35 KJV

We will now consider several short parables that our Savior related, but of which he gave no interpretation; still we may endeavor from other parts of Scripture to discover their meaning. The seed of the mustard-tree is smaller in proportion to the size of the tree it produces, than any other seed. In eastern countries the mustard-tree has immense spreading branches, which afford a fit shelter for the birds.

Daily Devotion: Forgiveness by J.E. Smith

Bible Reading: Ephesians 4:25-32 KJV

Key Verse:  "And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you."
- Ephesians 4:32 KJV

Forgiveness is one of the clearest marks of a heart transformed by grace. It does not come naturally to the flesh, which desires justice, vindication, and repayment. Yet Scripture teaches that forgiveness flows from remembering how much we ourselves have been forgiven by God.