One in Christ
Read: Galatians 3:23-29 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. (v. 28) In remote Indian villages, the traditional Hindu caste system separates people. Those at the top receive the most wealth and power, and those at the […]
Peaceful and Secure
Read: 2 Corinthians 5:1-10 For we know that if the tent that is our earthly home is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. (v. 1) Rachel is a Christian, living in Kalimantan, Indonesia. She belongs to a thriving listener community there—a group of Christians who […]
January 2023 Prayer Guide
ENGLISH — Please pray for our devotional writers and editors. Pray that our writers would be open to the leading of the Holy Spirit as they contemplate what topics to address. Pray also that our editors would be blessed with discernment as they work through what has been written. Pray that those who read the […]
God’s Fruitful Word
Read: Isaiah 55 So shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty. (v. 11) In the eastern part of Bhutan, an elderly married couple goes to the monastery every day to shuffle in circles around the perimeter and chant mantras. In their left hands they spin Buddhist […]
Found by the Shepherd
Read: Matthew 9:35-38 When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. (v. 36) Samar is a young shepherd living in India. At age 25, he was given a copy of the New Testament. He poured over the book, reading it every day with […]
Leaving the Stable
Read: Luke 2:15-21 And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them. (v. 20) The shepherds hurried to Bethlehem, found Mary and Joseph and the baby, made known the angelic announcement, and then, says Luke, they “returned.” Returned to what? A speaking tour about […]
Read the Christmas Story
Read: Galatians 4:1-7 But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law. (v. 4) There is a thought-provoking verse in the book of 1 Kings. Trying to explain the escape of a prisoner he was supposed to be guarding, the sentry says: “As your servant was […]
Give Christmas Presence
Read: Isaiah 9:6-7 For to us a child is born, to us a son is given. (v. 6) In 1615, Anthony van Dyck finished painting Adoration of the Shepherds. One version shows the shepherds kneeling in the stable, all straining forward to see the infant Jesus, snug in his mother’s arms. And the shepherds’ wives are […]
Name Your Fears
Read: Luke 2:1-14 The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid? (Ps. 27:1) When I was a child, my grandmother took it upon herself to do something my parents never would have: she gave me money to […]