Today’s Devotion:

A Lesson About Prayer

Read Luke 11:1-4

The Lord’s Prayer is the most famous of all prayers found in the New Testament.  Many can recall learning this prayer as a child, which has likely been taught to succeeding generations too.

If you have been teaching your children or grandchildren this prayer, you would be teaching more than just words to them as they recite this.

You would be teaching them theology!
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Today’s Devotion:

The Cost of Discipleship

Read Matthew 8:18-22

This passage stresses the radical demands of following the call of Jesus.  A crowd had gathered around Jesus, and out of it came a scribe who said, “Teacher, I will follow you wherever You go”.  How little he realized what following the Master would really mean.  He was moved by the emotion surrounding Jesus, but had no concept of what it was to make the fateful decision to become a true follower, a disciple, of Jesus.  He had not counted the cost.  If he had, he would have realized that to be a disciple of Jesus is to submit all of one’s desires, hopes, dreams, expectations, and allegiance to Him and Him alone.  To be a true disciple is to “take up the cross”, and follow Him.  One thing that was certain in Jesus’ day, if you saw a man walking out of town carrying a cross, followed by a contingent of Roman soldiers, you knew he was not coming back.
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Today’s Devotion:

You Can’t Keep Quiet About Jesus!

Read John 4:21-30

How wonderful an experience it was for many to have personally met and talked with Jesus when He was on earth! Sadly, many who saw Him were blind to who He really was. Some said, “Is not this the Carpenter’s son?” Or, “Can any good thing come out of Nazareth?” But this woman’s eyes were opened to Him, when He told her things about her life that took her by complete surprise. At first she said, “Sir, you must be a prophet?” But because in the ensuing conversation her immoral life was exposed, she spoke up: “I know that the Messiah is coming, and He will know everything.” It appears she is weighing things up: is He just a prophet OR is He the Christ? Jesus does not hold her in suspense – “I that speak unto thee am He!” Face to face with Him she was overwhelmed! That dayher life was radically altered forever.

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Today’s Devotion:

A Storm is Coming

Read Matthew 7:24-29

This past week’s tragic earthquake and tsunami in Japan are a great reminder to all of us that when an event like this occurs, very little withstood the powerful force of water as it rushed through villages and cities, decimating anything in its path.  Even those buildings that remain standing, their foundations have been severely compromised too and will likely be condemned.

The parable that Jesus tells in Matthew 7:24-29 illustrates a great comparison for us to learn from, in light of these past events.
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What IS 40 days with Jesus? Simply, a churchwide campaign to prepare our hearts and reach out to our friends at Easter 2011. From March 14th through Easter Sunday everyone at First Assembly is being challenged to read together through a series of daily Bible readings about the life of Jesus and the prophecies about Him from the Old Testament.  Then a couple of weeks before Easter we’re asking everyone to give away a second book, “The Risen Savior”, to a friend or family member with a personal invitation for them to come to church on Easter Sunday morning.

Today’s Devotion:

Whose Business?

Read Luke 2:39-49

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