Devotional Archives - Page 28 of 49

Essential 100-Day 4

Genesis 8-9:1-17

The Flood Subsides

1 But God remembered Noah and all the beasts and all the livestock that were with him in the ark. And God made a wind blow over the earth, and the waters subsided. ²The fountains of the deep and the windows of the heavens were closed, the rain from the heavens was restrained, ³and the waters receded from the earth continually. At the end of 150 days the waters had abated, ⁴and in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, the ark came to rest on the mountains of Ararat. ⁵And the waters continued to abate until the tenth month; in the tenth month, on the first day of the month, the tops of the mountains were seen.

⁶At the end of forty days Noah opened the window of the ark that he had made ⁷and sent forth a raven. It went to and fro until the waters were dried up from the earth. ⁸Then he sent forth a dove from him, to see if the waters had subsided from the face of the ground. ⁹But the dove found no place to set her foot, and she returned to him to the ark, for the waters were still on the face of the whole earth. So he put out his hand and took her and brought her into the ark with him. ¹⁰He waited another seven days, and again he sent forth the dove out of the ark. ¹¹And the dove came back to him in the evening, and behold, in her mouth was a freshly plucked olive leaf. So Noah knew that the waters had subsided from the earth. ¹²Then he waited another seven days and sent forth the dove, and she did not return to him anymore.

¹³In the six hundred and first year, in the first month, the first day of the month, the waters were dried from off the earth. And Noah removed the covering of the ark and looked, and behold, the face of the ground was dry. ¹⁴In the second month, on the twenty-seventh day of the month, the earth had dried out. ¹⁵Then God said to Noah, ¹⁶“Go out from the ark, you and your wife, and your sons and your sons’ wives with you. ¹⁷Bring out with you every living thing that is with you of all flesh—birds and animals and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth—that they may swarm on the earth, and be fruitful and multiply on the earth.” ¹⁸So Noah went out, and his sons and his wife and his sons’ wives with him. ¹⁹Every beast, every creeping thing, and every bird, everything that moves on the earth, went out by families from the ark.

God’s Covenant with Noah

²⁰Then Noah built an altar to the Lord and took some of every clean animal and some of every clean bird and offered burnt offerings on the altar. ²¹And when the Lord smelled the pleasing aroma, the Lord said in his heart, “I will never again curse the ground because of man, for the intention of man’s heart is evil from his youth. Neither will I ever again strike down every living creature as I have done. ²²While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night, shall not cease.”

Chapter 9

1 And God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth. ²The fear of you and the dread of you shall be upon every beast of the earth and upon every bird of the heavens, upon everything that creeps on the ground and all the fish of the sea. Into your hand they are delivered. ³Every moving thing that lives shall be food for you. And as I gave you the green plants, I give you everything. ⁴But you shall not eat flesh with its life, that is, its blood. ⁵And for your lifeblood I will require a reckoning: from every beast I will require it and from man. From his fellow man I will require a reckoning for the life of man.

⁶“Whoever sheds the blood of man,
by man shall his blood be shed,
for God made man in his own image.

⁷And you, be fruitful and multiply, increase greatly on the earth and multiply in it.”

⁸Then God said to Noah and to his sons with him, ⁹“Behold, I establish my covenant with you and your offspring after you, ¹⁰and with every living creature that is with you, the birds, the livestock, and every beast of the earth with you, as many as came out of the ark; it is for every beast of the earth. ¹¹I establish my covenant with you, that never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of the flood, and never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth.” ¹²And God said, “This is the sign of the covenant that I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for all future generations: ¹³I have set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth. ¹⁴When I bring clouds over the earth and the bow is seen in the clouds, ¹⁵I will remember my covenant that is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh. And the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all flesh. ¹⁶When the bow is in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth.” ¹⁷God said to Noah, “This is the sign of the covenant that I have established between me and all flesh that is on the earth.”

Devotional

Essential 100-Day 3

Genesis 6:5-22; 7

⁵The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. ⁶And the Lord regretted that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him to his heart. ⁷So the Lord said, “I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the land, man and animals and creeping things and birds of the heavens, for I am sorry that I have made them.” ⁸But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord.

Noah and the Flood

⁹These are the generations of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his generation. Noah walked with God. ¹⁰And Noah had three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

¹¹Now the earth was corrupt in God’s sight, and the earth was filled with violence. ¹²And God saw the earth, and behold, it was corrupt, for all flesh had corrupted their way on the earth. ¹³And God said to Noah, “I have determined to make an end of all flesh, for the earth is filled with violence through them. Behold, I will destroy them with the earth. ¹⁴Make yourself an ark of gopher wood. Make rooms in the ark, and cover it inside and out with pitch. ¹⁵This is how you are to make it: the length of the ark 300 cubits, its breadth 50 cubits, and its height 30 cubits. ¹⁶Make a roof for the ark, and finish it to a cubit above, and set the door of the ark in its side. Make it with lower, second, and third decks. ¹⁷For behold, I will bring a flood of waters upon the earth to destroy all flesh in which is the breath of life under heaven. Everything that is on the earth shall die. ¹⁸But I will establish my covenant with you, and you shall come into the ark, you, your sons, your wife, and your sons’ wives with you. ¹⁹And of every living thing of all flesh, you shall bring two of every sort into the ark to keep them alive with you. They shall be male and female. ²⁰Of the birds according to their kinds, and of the animals according to their kinds, of every creeping thing of the ground, according to its kind, two of every sort shall come in to you to keep them alive. ²¹Also take with you every sort of food that is eaten, and store it up. It shall serve as food for you and for them.” ²²Noah did this; he did all that God commanded him.

Chapter 7

7 Then the Lord said to Noah, “Go into the ark, you and all your household, for I have seen that you are righteous before me in this generation. ²Take with you seven pairs of all clean animals, the male and his mate, and a pair of the animals that are not clean, the male and his mate, ³and seven pairs of the birds of the heavens also, male and female, to keep their offspring alive on the face of all the earth. ⁴For in seven days I will send rain on the earth forty days and forty nights, and every living thing that I have made I will blot out from the face of the ground.” ⁵And Noah did all that the Lord had commanded him.

⁶Noah was six hundred years old when the flood of waters came upon the earth. ⁷And Noah and his sons and his wife and his sons’ wives with him went into the ark to escape the waters of the flood. ⁸Of clean animals, and of animals that are not clean, and of birds, and of everything that creeps on the ground, ⁹two and two, male and female, went into the ark with Noah, as God had commanded Noah. ¹⁰And after seven days the waters of the flood came upon the earth.

¹¹In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month, on the seventeenth day of the month, on that day all the fountains of the great deep burst forth, and the windows of the heavens were opened. ¹²And rain fell upon the earth forty days and forty nights. ¹³On the very same day Noah and his sons, Shem and Ham and Japheth, and Noah’s wife and the three wives of his sons with them entered the ark, ¹⁴they and every beast, according to its kind, and all the livestock according to their kinds, and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth, according to its kind, and every bird, according to its kind, every winged creature. ¹⁵They went into the ark with Noah, two and two of all flesh in which there was the breath of life. ¹⁶And those that entered, male and female of all flesh, went in as God had commanded him. And the Lord shut him in.

¹⁷The flood continued forty days on the earth. The waters increased and bore up the ark, and it rose high above the earth. ¹⁸The waters prevailed and increased greatly on the earth, and the ark floated on the face of the waters. ¹⁹And the waters prevailed so mightily on the earth that all the high mountains under the whole heaven were covered. ²⁰The waters prevailed above the mountains, covering them fifteen cubits deep. ²¹And all flesh died that moved on the earth, birds, livestock, beasts, all swarming creatures that swarm on the earth, and all mankind. ²²Everything on the dry land in whose nostrils was the breath of life died. ²³He blotted out every living thing that was on the face of the ground, man and animals and creeping things and birds of the heavens. They were blotted out from the earth. Only Noah was left, and those who were with him in the ark. ²⁴And the waters prevailed on the earth 150 days.

Devotional

Essential 100-Day 2

Genesis 3

The Fall

1 Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made.

He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?” ²And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, ³but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.’” ⁴But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. ⁵For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” ⁶So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate. ⁷Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths.

⁸And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. ⁹But the Lord God called to the man and said to him, “Where are you?” ¹⁰And he said, “I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself.” ¹¹He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?” ¹²The man said, “The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate.” ¹³Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this that you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”

¹⁴The Lord God said to the serpent,

“Because you have done this,
    cursed are you above all livestock
    and above all beasts of the field;
on your belly you shall go,
    and dust you shall eat
    all the days of your life.
¹⁵I will put enmity between you and the woman,
    and between your offspring and her offspring;
he shall bruise your head,
    and you shall bruise his heel.”

¹⁶To the woman he said,

“I will surely multiply your pain in childbearing;
in pain you shall bring forth children.
Your desire shall be contrary to your husband,
but he shall rule over you.”

¹⁷And to Adam he said,

“Because you have listened to the voice of your wife
    and have eaten of the tree
of which I commanded you,
    ‘You shall not eat of it,’
cursed is the ground because of you;
    in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life;
¹⁸thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you;
    and you shall eat the plants of the field.
¹⁹By the sweat of your face
    you shall eat bread,
till you return to the ground,
    for out of it you were taken;
for you are dust,
    and to dust you shall return.”

²⁰The man called his wife’s name Eve, because she was the mother of all living. ²¹And the Lord God made for Adam and for his wife garments of skins and clothed them.

²²Then the Lord God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of us in knowing good and evil. Now, lest he reach out his hand and take also of the tree of life and eat, and live forever—” ²³therefore the Lord God sent him out from the garden of Eden to work the ground from which he was taken. ²⁴He drove out the man, and at the east of the garden of Eden he placed the cherubim and a flaming sword that turned every way to guard the way to the tree of life.

Devotional

Essential 100-Day 1

Genesis 1-2

The Creation of the World

1 In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. ²The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.

³And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. ⁴And God saw that the light was good. And God separated the light from the darkness. ⁵God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day.

⁶And God said, “Let there be an expanse in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters.” ⁷And God made the expanse and separated the waters that were under the expanse from the waters that were above the expanse. And it was so. ⁸And God called the expanse Heaven. And there was evening and there was morning, the second day.

⁹And God said, “Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear.” And it was so. ¹⁰God called the dry land Earth, and the waters that were gathered together he called Seas. And God saw that it was good.

¹¹And God said, “Let the earth sprout vegetation, plants yielding seed, and fruit trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind, on the earth.” And it was so. ¹²The earth brought forth vegetation, plants yielding seed according to their own kinds, and trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. ¹³And there was evening and there was morning, the third day.

¹⁴And God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night. And let them be for signs and for seasons, and for days and years, ¹⁵and let them be lights in the expanse of the heavens to give light upon the earth.” And it was so. ¹⁶And God made the two great lights—the greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule the night—and the stars. ¹⁷And God set them in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth, ¹⁸to rule over the day and over the night, and to separate the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good. ¹⁹And there was evening and there was morning, the fourth day.

²⁰And God said, “Let the waters swarm with swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the expanse of the heavens.” ²¹So God created the great sea creatures and every living creature that moves, with which the waters swarm, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. ²²And God blessed them, saying, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth.” ²³And there was evening and there was morning, the fifth day.

²⁴And God said, “Let the earth bring forth living creatures according to their kinds—livestock and creeping things and beasts of the earth according to their kinds.” And it was so. ²⁵And God made the beasts of the earth according to their kinds and the livestock according to their kinds, and everything that creeps on the ground according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.

²⁶Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”

²⁷So God created man in his own image,
in the image of God he created him;
male and female he created them.

²⁸And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” ²⁹And God said, “Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit. You shall have them for food. ³⁰And to every beast of the earth and to every bird of the heavens and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food.” And it was so. ³¹And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.

The Seventh Day, God Rests

Chapter 2

1 Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. ²And on the seventh day God finished his work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done. ³So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it God rested from all his work that he had done in creation.

The Creation of Man and Woman

⁴These are the generations
of the heavens and the earth when they were created,
in the day that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens.

⁵When no bush of the field was yet in the land and no small plant of the field had yet sprung up—for the Lord God had not caused it to rain on the land, and there was no man to work the ground, ⁶and a mist was going up from the land and was watering the whole face of the ground— ⁷then the Lord God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature. ⁸And the Lord God planted a garden in Eden, in the east, and there he put the man whom he had formed. ⁹And out of the ground the Lord God made to spring up every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. The tree of life was in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

¹⁰A river flowed out of Eden to water the garden, and there it divided and became four rivers. ¹¹The name of the first is the Pishon. It is the one that flowed around the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold. ¹²And the gold of that land is good; bdellium and onyx stone are there. ¹³The name of the second river is the Gihon. It is the one that flowed around the whole land of Cush. ¹⁴And the name of the third river is the Tigris, which flows east of Assyria. And the fourth river is the Euphrates.

¹⁵The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it. ¹⁶And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, ¹⁷but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”

¹⁸Then the Lord God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for^[e] him.” ¹⁹Now out of the ground the Lord God had formed every beast of the field and every bird of the heavens and brought them to the man to see what he would call them. And whatever the man called every living creature, that was its name. ²⁰The man gave names to all livestock and to the birds of the heavens and to every beast of the field. But for Adam there was not found a helper fit for him. ²¹So the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and while he slept took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh. ²²And the rib that the Lord God had taken from the man he made into a woman and brought her to the man. ²³Then the man said,

“This at last is bone of my bones
and flesh of my flesh;
she shall be called Woman,
because she was taken out of Man.”

²⁴Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh. ²⁵And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed.

Devotional

Daily Devotional-December 6th

December 6, 2020

UPDATE: December 6th will be the final online devotional for the time being. At some point in the future, Champion Forest Baptist Church online devotionals may resume.

The title of the book in the Old Testament we refer to as Ecclesiastes comes from the Septuagint (LXX) which uses the Greek word ekklesiastes. The word means “preacher” and refers to the one who gathers an assembly of people and speaks to them. Solomon is accepted as the author of Ecclesiastes by most scholars. In the first verse he refers to himself as “the son of David, king in Jerusalem.” Additionally, he says he is, “king over Israel in Jerusalem” (1:12), and “besides being wise, the Preacher also taught the people knowledge.” (12:9). Solomon was known as the son of King David (1 Kings 3), the third king over the united kingdom of Israel, and for unmatched wisdom in the land (1:16). The book can be dated around 930 B.C. because it was most likely composed in Solomon’s latter years.

Even though Solomon did not initially ask for long life, wealth, or the death of his enemies, but for wisdom to govern the people of Israel, God granted both. However, even though he knew better, he acted foolishly by taking many wives and worshipping other gods. He became selfish and apathetic towards God. Ecclesiastes is autobiographical as the old king reflects on his many foolish decisions and empty pursuits. He concludes that life without God and the pursuit of pleasure is all “vanity.” He warns subsequent generations to avoid the same mistakes he made and that a life lived without God is futile and meaningless.

Ecclesiastes 12

Remember Your Creator in Your Youth

1 Remember also your Creator in the days of your youth, before the evil days come and the years draw near of which you will say, “I have no pleasure in them”; ²before the sun and the light and the moon and the stars are darkened and the clouds return after the rain, ³in the day when the keepers of the house tremble, and the strong men are bent, and the grinders cease because they are few, and those who look through the windows are dimmed, ⁴and the doors on the street are shut—when the sound of the grinding is low, and one rises up at the sound of a bird, and all the daughters of song are brought low— ⁵they are afraid also of what is high, and terrors are in the way; the almond tree blossoms, the grasshopper drags itself along, and desire fails, because man is going to his eternal home, and the mourners go about the streets— ⁶before the silver cord is snapped, or the golden bowl is broken, or the pitcher is shattered at the fountain, or the wheel broken at the cistern, ⁷and the dust returns to the earth as it was, and the spirit returns to God who gave it. ⁸Vanity of vanities, says the Preacher; all is vanity.

Fear God and Keep His Commandments

⁹Besides being wise, the Preacher also taught the people knowledge, weighing and studying and arranging many proverbs with great care. ¹⁰The Preacher sought to find words of delight, and uprightly he wrote words of truth.

¹¹The words of the wise are like goads, and like nails firmly fixed are the collected sayings; they are given by one Shepherd. ¹²My son, beware of anything beyond these. Of making many books there is no end, and much study is a weariness of the flesh.

¹³The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. ¹⁴For God will bring every deed into judgment, with every secret thing, whether good or evil.

Reflection:

Solomon’s life is coming to a close and he summarizes the important musings of the book. He has talked about the vanity of living without consideration for God. Without God, life is selfish and self-serving. The pursuit of pleasure will ultimately leave you empty. Seeking God is what makes life meaningful.
Don’t waste your life and only get serious about God when your life is coming to a close. Remember God throughout your life (v. 1).
The evil days are not referring to evil living, but rather the end of life when the body is deteriorating. Now is the time to lean into God, whatever age you are. Now is the time to seek God with all of your heart.
Solomon give a stark picture of the aging process. Once strong men are bent, the grinders (teeth) are few, the view through the windows is dim, and the bowl, pitcher, and wheel are broken. All of these metaphors describe the journey from this life into eternity. The spirit returns to God.
Solomon’s conclusion to his reflection on life is beautifully summed up in verses 13 and 14. Fear God and keep his commandments. If you do this, then you will have no fear of the judgement that is yet to come. Believe in Jesus, God’s son, and trust in him alone for salvation and righteousness. “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. (John 3:16).”

Prayer: Glorious Lord, I lift my heart to you in praise and adoration. You are holy and worthy of praise and honor and glory! I thank you for your mercy and grace and the kindness you have shown to me. I thank you for forgiving me of my sin and calling me into your forever family. Help me to live for you and not for myself. Enable me, by the power of the Holy Spirit, to live a life that pleases you and help me to seek you with all of my heart. Let my testimony of faith bring hope and good news to others. In Jesus’ name, amen.

We encourage everyone to have a daily time in God’s word. There are many devotionals available that can help in spending time with Jesus every day. Any devotional is just meant to be a tool to help you read and reflect on God’s word and to encounter Jesus every day. Below are some biblically sound devotional resources you might consider.

My Utmost for His Highest by Oswald Chambers. http://utmost.org
The One Year at His Feet Devotional by Chris Tiegreen
Psalms for Living; Daily Prayers, Wisdom, and Guidance by Mark Lanier
Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life by Donald S. Whitney
www.idisciple.org
www.josh.org/resources/daily-devotional
Daily Devotionals by Charles Stanley. www.intouch.org
Daily Hope Devotional by Rick Warren. pastorrick.com/devotional/
Experiencing God Day-By-Day by Henrey Blackaby. www.blackaby.net
“Insight for Today” by Chuck Swindoll. www.insight.org/resources/daily-devotional
Daily Devotionals by Tony Evans. www.crosswalk.com/devotionals/alternative-view-with-dr-tony-evans/

The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you; the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace” (Numbers 6:24-26 ESV).

Devotional

Daily Devotional-December 5th

December 5, 2020

UPDATE: December 6th will be the final online devotional for the time being. At some point in the future, Champion Forest Baptist Church online devotionals may resume.

Ecclesiastes 11

Cast Your Bread upon the Waters

1 Cast your bread upon the waters,
    for you will find it after many days.
²Give a portion to seven, or even to eight,
    for you know not what disaster may happen on earth.
³If the clouds are full of rain,
    they empty themselves on the earth,
and if a tree falls to the south or to the north,
    in the place where the tree falls, there it will lie.
⁴He who observes the wind will not sow,
    and he who regards the clouds will not reap.

⁵As you do not know the way the spirit comes to the bones in the womb of a woman with child, so you do not know the work of God who makes everything.

⁶In the morning sow your seed, and at evening withhold not your hand, for you do not know which will prosper, this or that, or whether both alike will be good.

⁷Light is sweet, and it is pleasant for the eyes to see the sun.

⁸So if a person lives many years, let him rejoice in them all; but let him remember that the days of darkness will be many. All that comes is vanity.

⁹Rejoice, O young man, in your youth, and let your heart cheer you in the days of your youth. Walk in the ways of your heart and the sight of your eyes. But know that for all these things God will bring you into judgment.

¹⁰Remove vexation from your heart, and put away pain from your body, for youth and the dawn of life are vanity.

Reflection:

It is not completely clear what the exact interpretation is for the metaphor of casting bread upon the water, however, being generous and always being wise and responsible with your finances with the Lord in mind will bring a good return in one form or another (v. 1).
When you are blessed and have plenty, be generous and give to those in need when life is good. One day, when you might be in need, they can return the favor (v. 2).
Simply observing the skies and the clouds to decide on the perfect time to plant will result in never sowing nor reaping. The preacher says to get to work and trust God. There are so many things outside of our control and we must trust God.
Life and death is contrasted by the words light and darkness. There is a time to live and a time to die and we must approach both wisely (vv. 7-8).

Prayer: Heavenly Father, there is so much in this life I have no control over, but I trust you and know that you are in control of every day. I know that you go before me and will prepare me for what lies ahead. Help me to live wisely, and to seek your wisdom so that I will make good and virtuous choices that reflect well on you. Lord, I trust in you with all of my heart and I will not lean on my own understanding; I will acknowledge you in all of my ways and believe you will make the path ahead of me straight and clear (Proverbs 3:5-6). In Jesus’ name, amen.

My Utmost for His Highest by Oswald Chambers. http://utmost.org
The One Year at His Feet Devotional by Chris Tiegreen
Psalms for Living; Daily Prayers, Wisdom, and Guidance by Mark Lanier
Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life by Donald S. Whitney
www.idisciple.org
www.josh.org/resources/daily-devotional
Daily Devotionals by Charles Stanley. www.intouch.org
Daily Hope Devotional by Rick Warren. pastorrick.com/devotional/
Experiencing God Day-By-Day by Henrey Blackaby. www.blackaby.net
“Insight for Today” by Chuck Swindoll. www.insight.org/resources/daily-devotional
Daily Devotionals by Tony Evans. www.crosswalk.com/devotionals/alternative-view-with-dr-tony-evans/

The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you; the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace” (Numbers 6:24-26 ESV).

Devotional

Daily Devotional-December 4th

December 4, 2020

UPDATE: December 6th will be the final online devotional for the time being. At some point in the future, Champion Forest Baptist Church online devotionals may resume.

Ecclesiastes 10

1 Dead flies make the perfumer’s ointment give off a stench;
    so a little folly outweighs wisdom and honor.
²A wise man’s heart inclines him to the right,
    but a fool’s heart to the left.
³Even when the fool walks on the road, he lacks sense,
    and he says to everyone that he is a fool.
⁴If the anger of the ruler rises against you, do not leave your place,
    for calmness will lay great offenses to rest.

⁵There is an evil that I have seen under the sun, as it were an error proceeding from the ruler: ⁶folly is set in many high places, and the rich sit in a low place. ⁷I have seen slaves on horses, and princes walking on the ground like slaves.

⁸He who digs a pit will fall into it,
    and a serpent will bite him who breaks through a wall.
⁹He who quarries stones is hurt by them,
    and he who splits logs is endangered by them.
¹⁰If the iron is blunt, and one does not sharpen the edge,
    he must use more strength,
    but wisdom helps one to succeed.
¹¹If the serpent bites before it is charmed,
    there is no advantage to the charmer.

¹²The words of a wise man’s mouth win him favor,
    but the lips of a fool consume him.
¹³The beginning of the words of his mouth is foolishness,
    and the end of his talk is evil madness.
¹⁴A fool multiplies words,
    though no man knows what is to be,
    and who can tell him what will be after him?
¹⁵The toil of a fool wearies him,
    for he does not know the way to the city.

¹⁶Woe to you, O land, when your king is a child,
    and your princes feast in the morning!
¹⁷Happy are you, O land, when your king is the son of the nobility,
    and your princes feast at the proper time,
    for strength, and not for drunkenness!
¹⁸Through sloth the roof sinks in,
    and through indolence the house leaks.
¹⁹Bread is made for laughter,
    and wine gladdens life,
    and money answers everything.
²⁰Even in your thoughts, do not curse the king,
    nor in your bedroom curse the rich,
for a bird of the air will carry your voice,
    or some winged creature tell the matter.

Reflection:

As the preacher mentions dead flies making the perfumer’s ointment give off a stench, a life of folly and poor decisions can quickly undo the blessings received from previous wise decisions and living for God (v.1). As it has been said before, the Christian life is a marathon and not a sprint. Everyday must be lived in submission to God and seeking his presence and wisdom.
Living foolishly eventually becomes apparent to all (v. 3). We must never think that living a life of folly will only affect the person doing so. The concentric circles of sin affect other lives in negative ways as well.
The preacher has seen the wealthy in low places because folly is no respecter of persons (vv. 5-7). Many times, riches are associated with the wise and blessed while poverty is associated with careless living and unwise decisions. But this is not always the case and life is not always fair. Can you list some wise decisions you have made in your life and how those decisions resulted in blessings?
A foolish person’s words will usually come back to haunt him or her. Jesus said in Matthew 12:37, “For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.”

Prayer: Lord, make me wise and help me to live as a wise person and to not succumb to foolishness in my words or in the way I live. Help me to bring honor to you. “Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O LORD, my rock and my redeemer (Psalm 19:14).” In Jesus’ name, amen.

My Utmost for His Highest by Oswald Chambers. http://utmost.org
The One Year at His Feet Devotional by Chris Tiegreen
Psalms for Living; Daily Prayers, Wisdom, and Guidance by Mark Lanier
Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life by Donald S. Whitney
www.idisciple.org
www.josh.org/resources/daily-devotional
Daily Devotionals by Charles Stanley. www.intouch.org
Daily Hope Devotional by Rick Warren. pastorrick.com/devotional/
Experiencing God Day-By-Day by Henrey Blackaby. www.blackaby.net
“Insight for Today” by Chuck Swindoll. www.insight.org/resources/daily-devotional
Daily Devotionals by Tony Evans. www.crosswalk.com/devotionals/alternative-view-with-dr-tony-evans/

The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you; the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace” (Numbers 6:24-26 ESV).

Devotional

Daily Devotional-December 3rd

December 3, 2020

Ecclesiastes 9

Death Comes to All

1 But all this I laid to heart, examining it all, how the righteous and the wise and their deeds are in the hand of God. Whether it is love or hate, man does not know; both are before him. ²It is the same for all, since the same event happens to the righteous and the wicked, to the good and the evil, to the clean and the unclean, to him who sacrifices and him who does not sacrifice. As the good one is, so is the sinner, and he who swears is as he who shuns an oath. ³This is an evil in all that is done under the sun, that the same event happens to all. Also, the hearts of the children of man are full of evil, and madness is in their hearts while they live, and after that they go to the dead. ⁴But he who is joined with all the living has hope, for a living dog is better than a dead lion. ⁵For the living know that they will die, but the dead know nothing, and they have no more reward, for the memory of them is forgotten. ⁶Their love and their hate and their envy have already perished, and forever they have no more share in all that is done under the sun.

Enjoy Life with the One You Love

⁷Go, eat your bread with joy, and drink your wine with a merry heart, for God has already approved what you do.

⁸Let your garments be always white. Let not oil be lacking on your head.

⁹Enjoy life with the wife whom you love, all the days of your vain life that he has given you under the sun, because that is your portion in life and in your toil at which you toil under the sun. ¹⁰Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might, for there is no work or thought or knowledge or wisdom in Sheol, to which you are going.

Wisdom Better Than Folly

¹¹Again I saw that under the sun the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, nor bread to the wise, nor riches to the intelligent, nor favor to those with knowledge, but time and chance happen to them all. ¹²For man does not know his time. Like fish that are taken in an evil net, and like birds that are caught in a snare, so the children of man are snared at an evil time, when it suddenly falls upon them.

¹³I have also seen this example of wisdom under the sun, and it seemed great to me. ¹⁴There was a little city with few men in it, and a great king came against it and besieged it, building great siegeworks against it. ¹⁵But there was found in it a poor, wise man, and he by his wisdom delivered the city. Yet no one remembered that poor man. ¹⁶But I say that wisdom is better than might, though the poor man’s wisdom is despised and his words are not heard.

¹⁷The words of the wise heard in quiet are better than the shouting of a ruler among fools. ¹⁸Wisdom is better than weapons of war, but one sinner destroys much good.

Reflection:

God will judge correctly in the final day because he recalls perfectly and there will be no inequities. We can give thanks that our God is perfectly accurate in his judgements.
The same events happen to the righteous and the wicked, but they are handled differently based on a relationship with God. God never promised that all problems would go away, and life would be easy. However, he has promised us his presence and care in the difficult times. In Matthew 11:8 Jesus said, “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”
Sometimes godly wisdom will not be appreciated in this world. We would do well to consider the wisdom of those who have lived many years and learned from this life. But sometimes the wisdom of our elders is taken for granted or easily dismissed.
Consider the words of the apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 3:19, “For the wisdom of this world is folly with God. For it is written, “He catches the wise in their craftiness.”
James 1:5, “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him.”

Prayer: Holy Spirit, I pray for your wisdom and for insight to this life. Help me to live godly and prudent, and to not be deceived by the evil one. Help me to understand your ways and to walk in them. Lead me in the way everlasting and to keep the narrow path. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Devotional

Daily Devotional-December 2nd

December 2, 2020

Ecclesiastes 8

Keep the King’s Command

1 Who is like the wise?
And who knows the interpretation of a thing?
A man’s wisdom makes his face shine,
and the hardness of his face is changed.

²I say: Keep the king’s command, because of God’s oath to him. ³Be not hasty to go from his presence. Do not take your stand in an evil cause, for he does whatever he pleases. ⁴For the word of the king is supreme, and who may say to him, “What are you doing?” ⁵Whoever keeps a command will know no evil thing, and the wise heart will know the proper time and the just way. ⁶For there is a time and a way for everything, although man’s trouble lies heavy on him. ⁷For he does not know what is to be, for who can tell him how it will be? ⁸No man has power to retain the spirit, or power over the day of death. There is no discharge from war, nor will wickedness deliver those who are given to it. ⁹All this I observed while applying my heart to all that is done under the sun, when man had power over man to his hurt.

Those Who Fear God Will Do Well

¹⁰Then I saw the wicked buried. They used to go in and out of the holy place and were praised in the city where they had done such things. This also is vanity. ¹¹Because the sentence against an evil deed is not executed speedily, the heart of the children of man is fully set to do evil. ¹²Though a sinner does evil a hundred times and prolongs his life, yet I know that it will be well with those who fear God, because they fear before him. ¹³But it will not be well with the wicked, neither will he prolong his days like a shadow, because he does not fear before God.

Man Cannot Know God’s Ways

¹⁴There is a vanity that takes place on earth, that there are righteous people to whom it happens according to the deeds of the wicked, and there are wicked people to whom it happens according to the deeds of the righteous. I said that this also is vanity. ¹⁵And I commend joy, for man has nothing better under the sun but to eat and drink and be joyful, for this will go with him in his toil through the days of his life that God has given him under the sun.

¹⁶When I applied my heart to know wisdom, and to see the business that is done on earth, how neither day nor night do one’s eyes see sleep, ¹⁷then I saw all the work of God, that man cannot find out the work that is done under the sun. However much man may toil in seeking, he will not find it out. Even though a wise man claims to know, he cannot find it out.

Reflection:

Man’s wisdom is not like God’s wisdom. Man’s wisdom in life without God is futility. Proverbs 9:10 says, “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight.”
There will be a time for judgement (vv. 5-6). Hebrews 9:27 says, “And just as each person is destined to die once and after that comes judgment.”
Without trust in Christ, not knowing when the end will come, the thought of judgement can cause anxiety and misery in a person (v. 7). Does the thought of judgement cause you fear or do you have peace about it (v. 12)?
Romans 8:1, “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.”

Prayer: Lord Jesus, I desire a long life and time with my loved ones. I pray that I will be wise and not foolish and bring glory and not shame to you in my life. I thank you for the peace I have with you and no fear of the final days. I thank you, because of your sacrifice on the cross, I am no longer under condemnation. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Devotional

Daily Devotional-December 1st

December 1, 2020

Ecclesiastes 7

The Contrast of Wisdom and Folly

1 A good name is better than precious ointment,
    and the day of death than the day of birth.
²It is better to go to the house of mourning
    than to go to the house of feasting,
for this is the end of all mankind,
    and the living will lay it to heart.
³Sorrow is better than laughter,
    for by sadness of face the heart is made glad.
⁴The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning,
    but the heart of fools is in the house of mirth.
⁵It is better for a man to hear the rebuke of the wise
    than to hear the song of fools.
⁶For as the crackling of thorns under a pot,
    so is the laughter of the fools;
    this also is vanity.
⁷Surely oppression drives the wise into madness,
    and a bribe corrupts the heart.
⁸Better is the end of a thing than its beginning,
    and the patient in spirit is better than the proud in spirit.
⁹Be not quick in your spirit to become angry,
    for anger lodges in the heart of fools.
¹⁰Say not, “Why were the former days better than these?”
    For it is not from wisdom that you ask this.
¹¹Wisdom is good with an inheritance,
    an advantage to those who see the sun.
¹²For the protection of wisdom is like the protection of money,
    and the advantage of knowledge is that wisdom preserves the life of him who has it.
¹³Consider the work of God:
    who can make straight what he has made crooked?

¹⁴In the day of prosperity be joyful, and in the day of adversity consider: God has made the one as well as the other, so that man may not find out anything that will be after him.

¹⁵In my vain life I have seen everything. There is a righteous man who perishes in his righteousness, and there is a wicked man who prolongs his life in his evildoing. ¹⁶Be not overly righteous, and do not make yourself too wise. Why should you destroy yourself? ¹⁷Be not overly wicked, neither be a fool. Why should you die before your time? ¹⁸It is good that you should take hold of this, and from that withhold not your hand, for the one who fears God shall come out from both of them.

¹⁹Wisdom gives strength to the wise man more than ten rulers who are in a city.

²⁰Surely there is not a righteous man on earth who does good and never sins.

²¹Do not take to heart all the things that people say, lest you hear your servant cursing you. ²²Your heart knows that many times you yourself have cursed others.

²³All this I have tested by wisdom. I said, “I will be wise,” but it was far from me. ²⁴That which has been is far off, and deep, very deep; who can find it out?

²⁵I turned my heart to know and to search out and to seek wisdom and the scheme of things, and to know the wickedness of folly and the foolishness that is madness. ²⁶And I find something more bitter than death: the woman whose heart is snares and nets, and whose hands are fetters. He who pleases God escapes her, but the sinner is taken by her. ²⁷Behold, this is what I found, says the Preacher, while adding one thing to another to find the scheme of things— ²⁸which my soul has sought repeatedly, but I have not found. One man among a thousand I found, but a woman among all these I have not found. ²⁹See, this alone I found, that God made man upright, but they have sought out many schemes.

Reflection:

Solomon extols the virtue of a earning a good reputation, a good name in life. He says it is a thing of honor. Why is it so important that believers in Jesus have a good reputation in life?
Verses 2-6 point out that we learn more from times of trials and even suffering than we do from life’s pleasures. As you reflect on your life, can you identify important lessons you have learned through difficulties and trials?
Sometimes we can become overly nostalgic of days gone by and fail to remember the difficulties we faced (v. 10). We must always be realistic about the past as well as the future.
We cannot know the future, but we must always trust in God. He brings both prosperity and adversity, but always with a purpose (v. 14).

Prayer: Heavenly Father, I know I can always trust you no matter what the future holds. I will praise your holy name both in times of prosperity and adversity. Thank you for your grace for every day, and the strength you give when I am weak. Blessed be the name of the Lord! In Jesus’ name, amen.