Daily Devotional

For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord. – Romans 6:23 (NLT)

It’s common to hear people say things like, “I’m a good person. I’m better than that hypocritical Christian over there who says they’re a Christian, but are mean to other people.” And yes, it’s true that there are many people who are good, even if they’re not Christian. However, the truth is that no amount of goodness is enough to earn heaven.

You can’t do enough good to remove your sin. Romans 5:12 in the NLT says it like this: “When Adam sinned, sin entered the world. Adam’s sin brought death, so death spread to everyone, for everyone sinned.”

That tells us that we have all sinned. Even if we’re mostly good people, we still are dead in our sins. Without faith in Jesus, we are going to one day die and go to hell.

Today’s Truth: We would be dead without faith in Jesus.

That’s the bad news. There’s good news, however. It is this: Jesus gave us a free gift, eternal life in Him. Our loving God provided a way for us to escape death and hell by faith and trusting in Jesus. If you haven’t made Jesus your savior, here’s a devotion that can help you get started.

Jesus declared, “ ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ 38This is the first and greatest commandment. 39And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’… – Matthew 22:37-39 (NIV)

People can make it really complicated when they think of all the things they need to be doing for God. They know they need to read the Bible, pray, witness, care for others, and on and on it goes. However, Jesus makes it real simple what we should be doing.

First, Jesus says to love God as Lord, which means with all your heart, soul, strength, and mind. If we do this, we will automatically do things like pray. We’ll automatically want to read our Bible. Because we are loving Him, He’ll be our top priority.

Second, Jesus then said to love our neighbor as yourself. This means to treat others as you want to be treated. We naturally want to care about ourselves. Jesus says to love others in that same way. If you know that you’d like to have a friend, then be a friend. If you know that you don’t like being made fun of, then don’t do it to others. If you wouldn’t want someone to take advantage of you, then don’t do it to someone else.

This verse Jesus spoke about really brings a whole bunch of rules of do’s and don’ts and narrows it down to 2 things. Love God and love people. If you do this you’ll fulfill all the rest of the laws.

Refrain from anger and turn from wrath; do not fret–it leads only to evil. – Psalm 37:8 (NIV)

The last year has been really hard for most of us. School hasn’t been normal, home hasn’t been normal. Shopping for groceries hasn’t been normal. This pandemic has been tough on many of us. And in the middle of all the difficulty, it can be easy to become angry.

Maybe you wish things were normal. Perhaps you’re so tired of things being virtual you’re ready to scream. We have good reason to be angry and upset about what we’ve faced this year.

However, the Bible tells us that anger left unchecked can lead us to evil. We might say something we shouldn’t out of anger, or do something we shouldn’t. One of the best things you can do is to confront your anger. Yes, you’re justified in feeling mad, but don’t let the anger boil up until it controls you.

Instead, go to God. Tell Him about the things that are bothering you. Ask Him to give you wisdom on how to deal with the circumstances you’re currently facing. With God’s help and by avoiding anger, you’ll come out of this pandemic better and closer to God as a result.

If you listen to these commands of the LORD your God that I am giving you today, and if you carefully obey them, the LORD will make you the head and not the tail, and you will always be on top and never at the bottom. – Deuteronomy 28:13 (NLT)

Have you ever felt like you couldn’t do something based on your background? Maybe your parents don’t have a lot of money, and so you feel sometimes like your options are limited.

Today’s Bible verse should encourage you. Even if your earthly parents don’t have a lot, you can be excited that your heavenly father has all the resources you’ll ever need.

God tells us in today’s Bible verse that He will help you be on top. So when you work at a job, do your best, work hard and then believe God that He’s helping you succeed. When you go to school, study, do good, and trust that God is helping you every day.

Today’s Truth: God is Working to Help You Succeed at Life!

That means you can walk into all situations in life knowing that you have an upper hand. God is working on your behalf. He’s helping you succeed and do good at the things He’s called you to do, regardless of your background and upbringing.

For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline. – 2 Timothy 1:7 (NLT)

When you’re following God’s plan for your life, it can be easy to become afraid. God often asks us to do things that feel bigger than we are. They are often out of our comfort zone and sometimes, it’s easy to want to ignore what God is telling you to do because it isn’t easy.

Often fear can become a big player in us giving up on our dreams. Maybe you fear that you’ll make the wrong decision, so you never step out and make a decision. Maybe you fear people and rejection and so it keeps you from doing the things God has placed on your heart.

Fear is a tool the enemy likes to use to stop us. He knows that if he can get us afraid he can keep us from doing great things for God.

So today, whatever your fear looks like, know that it’s not from God. God hasn’t given you fear, so if fear is stopping you, then it’s not godly. Determine today to live fearlessly. Don’t let your fears keep you from doing what God has called you to do!

[Tweet “Live fearlessly. Don’t let fear stop you from doing what God has called you to do – @studentdevos”]

They are more precious than gold, than much pure gold; they are sweeter than honey, than honey from the honeycomb. – Psalm 19:10 (NIV)

What’s something in your life that you wouldn’t trade for any amount of money? Is there something special your grandma gave to you? A great memory you have with your dad? What is that one thing that is really precious to you?

In today’s Bible verse, it describes the Bible in that way. It says that it is more precious than gold.

Why? Because the Bible describes to us the meaning of life. It gives us clues to our value, and our purpose. Without the Bible, we’d be helpless and without hope.

The Bible is precious because it’s a book like no other. It is God speaking to us. It’s truth. In every situation you face, God’s word has the answer you need. So if you haven’t, get into it. Learn from it and let God’s word become more precious to you than anything else.

The commandments of the LORD are right, bringing joy to the heart. The commands of the LORD are clear, giving insight for living. – Psalm 19:8 (NLT)

I remember a time my mom made me a huge birthday cake. It was the size of the entire kitchen table. The cake was made of sheet cakes, cupcakes, and round cakes. I walked into the house and was so excited to see this massive cake waiting for me. There was such joy as I got such a neat surprise for my birthday.

God wants us to feel that way about reading His word. God’s word isn’t rules and boring outdated things. God’s word is right and when we really get into it and see how much it helps us with life, it brings us joy.

Today’s Truth: God’s Word Will Bring You Joy

So determine today to get into God’s word. If you don’t like to read, listen to the Bible. But get into it. God’s word will bring you joy like no friendship, popularity, or any other thing in the world will.

Spend time reading your Bible and get to know the perfect, unchanging word of God that will bring you joy, peace and knowledge like you’ve never known!

The law of the LORD is perfect, refreshing the soul. The statutes of the LORD are trustworthy, making wise the simple. – Psalm 19:7 (NIV)

I remember one time when I ran a mile for my P.E. class. It was a pretty hot day and after I ran it, I was so thirsty, all I could think about was getting a drink of water. I ran to the water fountain in the hallway and drank for what felt like forever. That had to be one of the best and most refreshing drinks, I had ever had. After doing all that running, I was thirsty!

The Bible can be like that in our lives also. It can refresh us. Life is hard. The last year we’ve had has been hard on us all. But the good news is that we can find refreshing in God’s word.

The word of God is perfect, and it is there to help you when you need it. Reading your Bible can give you the wisdom and direction you need when life gets hard.

So if you’re facing something tough, or even if you’re not, know this, time spent reading God’s word is not wasted. It’s there to refresh your soul when you’re tired and when things are hard. So go to it. Get the refreshing you need to do what God is calling you to do!