Daily Devotionals for December 22, 2026

This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent.Faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. § Faith working through love. § He who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life. § We are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. § [He] gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and...

Many evangelical teachers insist so strongly upon free, unconditional grace as to create the impression that sin is not a serious matter and that God cares very little about it! They make it seem that God is only concerned with our escaping the consequences. The gospel, then, in practical application, means little more than a way to escape the fruits of our past! But the heart that has felt the weight of its own sin and has seen the dread whiteness of the Most High God will never believe...

Mark the subject of Job's devout anticipation "I shall see God." He does not say, "I shall see the saints"-though doubtless that will be untold felicity-but, "I shall see God." It is not-"I shall see the pearly gates, I shall behold the walls of jasper, I shall gaze upon the crowns of gold," but "I shall see God." This is the sum and substance of heaven, this is the joyful hope of all believers. It is their delight to see him now in the ordinances by faith. They love to behold him in...

This is one of several verses in the New Testament which proves extremely unsettling to many earnest, conscientious Christians. They reason this way: I am faced with a temptation to sin. I know it is wrong. I know I shouldn't do it, and yet I go ahead and do it anyway. I deliberately disobey. It seems to me that I am sinning willfully. Therefore, it sounds from this verse as though I have lost my salvation.

The problem arises because they take the verse out of its context and make it...

For Reading and Meditation:     Proverbs 24:15-22

Today we look at another reason why God allows the ungodly to flourish - to illustrate by contrast the horror of an eternity without God. Spurgeon commented: "Eternal punishment will be all the more terrible in contrast with the former prosperity of those who are ripening for it." The seeming joy and splendour of...

The man that fears God must have faith in His word, love to His character, a desire to please Him in all things, a fear to offend Him in anything, a realization of His omniscience, and be looking forward to His appearing.

Beloved, is this our character? It is said of such, " His soul shall dwell at ease :" free from slavish fears - from soul-distressing cares and anxieties - in a state of contentment and solid peace. And well he may; for he has God for his portion - the eternal...

"God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble." Psalms 46:1

A help that is not present when we need it is of small value. The anchor which is left at home is of no use to the seaman in the hour of storm; the money which he used to have is of no worth to the debtor when a writ is out against him. Very few earthly helps could be called "very present": they are usually far in the seeking, far in the using, and...

There is such a revelation of the holiness of God in all places of his dominion, that it is the manifest duty of all men to look to him alone and to give thanks at the remembrance of his holiness. For he is righteous in all his ways and holy in all his works, and not merely in the work of man's redemption. There is no idolater who is not compassed about by the tokens of the unity and holiness of God. God does not lay aside any of his perfections when he works his wondrous will in heathen...

Doubting one! thou hast often said, "I fear I shall never enter heaven." Fear not! all the people of God shall enter there. I love the quaint saying of a dying man, who exclaimed, "I have no fear of going home; I have sent all before me; God's finger is on the latch of my door, and I am ready for him to enter." "But," said one, "are you not afraid lest you should miss your inheritance?" "Nay," said he, "nay; there is one crown in heaven which the angel Gabriel could not wear, it will fit no...

I have been crucified with Christ" (Gal. 2:20).

The difference between stultifying carnality and growing spirituality is the believer's realization that he the sinner, as well as his sin, were taken down into death. Seeing one's identification in the Lord Jesus' death, burial, resurrection and ascension is the...

Matthew 13:24-30 Matthew 13:36-43

The sower is Christ Himself. He always sows good seed in His field. When he was living here in this world, He went up and down the country, dropping the words of life wherever He found a bit of heart-soil that would receive them. It is wonderful to think of the blessings which have come to the world through the words of Christ....

Selfish personal interest, says the Greek moral philosopher Epictetus, is the motive behind all human conduct. The children of the world, Christ tells us, are often wiser than the children of light. In his discovery of the springs of human conduct Epictetus reveals an understanding of mankind far beyond that of the average Christian; and this in spite of the fact that the Christian claims to possess the Spirit of truth and the Greek did not. If we would be wise in the wisdom of God we must...

Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied about these men also, saying, “Behold, the Lord comes with ten thousands of His saints, to execute judgment on all.” § Behold, He is coming with clouds, and every eye will see Him, even they who pierced Him. And all the tribes of the earth will mourn because of Him.The Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive...