My Daily Briefing
Daily Devotions

December 31 - Nº 365 Revelation 21 – 22 While he was a prisoner on an island called Patmos, John received four visions from God. In the first vision, Jesus appeared and instructed him to write a letter to each of the churches he had served (see  #358 - December 24   and  #359 - December 25 ). In the second vision, John was invited to enter God’s throne room in heaven. From there he witnessed the judgment that would one day be unleashed on the earth (see  #360 - December 26 , 

December 30 - Nº 364 Revelation 17 – 20 As the last trumpet sounded and the bowls of God’s wrath were being poured out (see #363 - December 29 ), one of the angels transported John into a wilderness. There another vision unfolded. John saw a woman dressed as a harlot.  Her name was Babylon. She had seduced the leaders of the world’s nations, causing them to leave the one true God and worship other gods.  She was sitting on the beast who had seven heads and ten horns (the anti

December 29 - Nº 363 Revelation 12 – 16 Before describing the destruction that would result from the seventh trumpet blast, John shared several scenes he had just witnessed. They were filled with imagery and symbolism. The first was of a woman who was clothed with the sun. The moon was under her feet, and there was a crown of 12 stars on her head. (Based on a dream that Joseph had in  Genesis 37:9-11 , i t is likely that this woman represented Israel.) The woman gave birth to

December 28 - Nº 362 Revelation 8 – 11 Six of the seven seals on the scroll had been opened. And each time one was opened, there was great destruction on the earth. When the seventh seal was broken, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour. Then each of seven angels who stood before God was handed a trumpet.  Another angel held a golden censer that was filled with burning incense and the prayers of the people.  After the fragrance and the prayers of the people (see 

December 27 - Nº 361 Revelation 6 – 7 John stood in the throne room of God. He watched as   a Lamb (that looked as if it had been killed but had come back to life) took a scroll from the hand of God.  When this happened, the whole throne room of God erupted in praise. One at a time, the lamb began to open the seven seals that secured the scroll. As the first seal was opened, one of the four creatures from around the throne (see  #360 - December 26 ) proclaimed in a thundero

December 26 - Nº 360 Revelation 4 – 5 While he was a prisoner on the island of Patmos, the apostle John had a profound encounter with God. The vision was terrifying and transforming. John wrote a brief synopsis of what had taken place. Then he shared the details of seven letters that “the son of man” instructed him to write. They were God’s evaluation of the current situations in each of the seven churches that had been under John’s care.  Not long after that, John had a seco

December 25 - Nº 359 Revelation 2 – 3 While John was exiled on the island of Patmos, Jesus instructed John to write letters to each of the seven churches that had been under his care (see  #355 - December 21 ).  The letters revealed how intimately Jesus knew what was going on in each church and how eager he was to meet their particular needs.  The churches were congratulated for the things they did well and rebuked for any areas where they fell short. Here is a summary of eac

December 24 - Nº 358 Revelation 1 The apostle John was living in Ephesus and ministering to churches in the province of Asia when Domitian was declared the Emperor of Rome. Domitian was a very authoritarian ruler. He wanted to be known as the Supreme Ruler—not only politically but religiously as well. He claimed to be divine and demanded to be worshipped as  Dominus et Deus  (“Lord and God”). He despised Christianity, and the persecution of Christians rose to a new level.  As

December 23 - Nº 357 2 John; 3 John In his first of three letters, John had warned the churches he pastored about false teachers (see  #355 - December 21 ). Certain men, who had once claimed to be members and fellow believers, were now traveling from one house-church to another teaching that Jesus was not the son of God. They taught that he was merely a man who had been given special authority and power. They insisted that he was not   the Messiah whom the prophets had writte

December 22 - Nº 356 1 John 2:18 – 5:21 John was the overseer and itinerant pastor for several churches in a province called Asia. Unfortunately, some of the people in these churches were being influenced by false teachers who said that Jesus was not really the Son of God. They taught that he was merely a gifted man who had been granted special powers at certain times.  So John wrote a series of letters to these churches. He started by explaining that the only way to have fel

December 21- Nº 355 1 John 1:1 – 2:17 John was one of Jesus’ first followers (see  #224 - August 12 ). He and his brother James (not to be confused with James the brother of Jesus) were fishermen.  John became one of Jesus’ closest confidants while he was here on earth.   As a matter of fact, their relationship was so close that, as he was dying on the cross, Jesus asked John to take care of his mother (see  #281 - October 8 ).  Evidently, Mary lived with John in Jerusalem fo

December 20- Nº 354 Jude 1 It had been about 35 years since Jesus’ death and resurrection. The Gospel message had spread across the Roman Empire, and believers everywhere were facing great persecution. Peter had recently written two letters to the churches in northern Asia Minor warning them to recognize and reject false teaching and urging them not to give up on their faith no matter how hard things became (see  #346 - December 12 ,  #347 - December 13 , and  #348 - December

December 19- Nº 353 Hebrews 12 – 13 The author of a letter to persecuted Jewish believers urged his readers to stay strong and grow in their faith. He warned them not to turn back to Judaism just because it seemed easier and safer (see  #350 - A Letter to Hebrew Believers (Part 1) ). He listed ways that worshiping Jesus was far superior to the Old Testament system of worship that they were returning to (see  #350 - A Letter to Hebrew Believers (Part 1)  and  #351 - A Letter t

December 18- Nº 352 Hebrews 10:36 – 11:40 Jewish believers were being persecuted for their faith in Jesus. To escape from suffering, some of them chose to abandon Christianity and return to Judaism. So, one of their mentors (we are never told who it was) wrote them a long letter explaining that Jesus was the fulfillment of all the prophecies God had made in the Jewish Scriptures.The author of the letter pointed out that worshiping Jesus as their Messiah offered far more benef

December 17- Nº 351 Hebrews 4:14 – 10:35 The author of the letter to the Hebrews had just explained how Jesus was greater than the prophets, the angels, and the patriarchs (see  #350 - December 16 ), all of whom the Jews highly revered. But he didn’t stop there. He made it clear that  Jesus was far superior to the priests as well! This was a big deal! The priests were God’s chosen ambassadors. They were the liaisons between God and His people (see  #52 - February 21 ). But th

December 16- Nº 350 Hebrews 1:1 – 4:13 An important letter was sent to a group of believers who were being persecuted for their faith. We don’t know who wrote the letter—but we do know that the author heard the Gospel story from people who had been with Jesus. We don’t know who received the letter either, but it is obvious that the readers were familiar with the Jewish faith. They had clearly studied the Torah (the first five books of the Old Testament); they knew the early

December 15- Nº 349 2 Timothy 1 – 4 Nero, the Emperor of Rome, had never been kind to Christians. When half of Rome was burned to the ground in 64 A.D., he decided to blame it on Jesus’ followers. This gave him the opportunity to outlaw Christianity, and the persecution of believers rose to a whole new level.  Paul (who had recently been released from a Roman prison—see  #333 - November 29  and  #343 - December 9 ), was targeted as a ringleader. He was re-arrested in Asia Min

December 14 - Nº 348 2 Peter 1 – 3 Not long after he sent his first letter to the churches in the northern provinces of Asia Minor, Peter sat down to write a second letter. He knew that the believers there were still being persecuted. In his first letter, Peter had instructed them how they should live during these difficult times. He had urged them to pursue godliness, kindness, and self-control. But as tough as their external hardships were, Peter had heard about something

December 13 - Nº 347 1 Peter 2:13–21; 3:1-14; 4:1 – 5:14 The believers in the northern Roman provinces of Asia Minor were facing extreme persecution (see  #346 - December 12 ). So, Peter wrote a letter encouraging them not to abandon their faith. In it, he urged them to follow Jesus' example. Peter knew first-hand that no one else suffered more than Jesus did when he was on earth. Yet, through all the hard times he faced, Jesus never sinned. Peter pointed out to his readers t

December 12 - Nº 346 1 Peter 1:1 – 2:12; 2:21-25; 3:15–22 Christianity grew rapidly in the 30 years following the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. But opposition grew rapidly as well: Jewish religious authorities hated Christianity  because it taught that Jesus was the Messiah they had been waiting for. It claimed that he was the Son of God and the Savior that had been promised by their prophets. But Jesus’ actions and teachings had not fit with traditional Jewish expe

December 11 - Nº 345 Titus 1 – 3 When Paul completed the ministry God had given him in Macedonia ( see   #343 - December 9 ), he and Titus visited Timothy in Ephesus. From there, Paul and Titus sailed on to Crete. There were several Christian churches on the island. A number of Jews from Crete had been in Jerusalem when the Holy Spirit descended on the Day of Pentecost, and they had heard the Gospel being preached in their own language (see  Acts 2:11 ).   Some of them believ

December 10 - Nº 344 1 Timothy 3:14 – 6:21 Paul could not be in Ephesus with Timothy, so he wrote his young, son-in-the-faith a letter that was filled with encouragement and spiritual advice. The letter became a manual for Timothy to use in his new role as the pastor of a church that Paul had started in Ephesus several years before. Paul gave his young apprentice instructions on how to combat false teaching, develop strong leaders, and live a godly life. He encouraged him to

December 9 - Nº 343 1 Timothy 1:1 – 3:13 There is no record of Paul’s release from prison in Rome. However, we know from the book of Acts that he spent two years chained to a Roman guard. And in this letter that he wrote to Timothy, Paul indicates that after those two years, he was set free. It is possible that Paul’s Jewish accusers never showed up for his trial before Caesar. In that case, after waiting the mandatory time, the charges would have been dropped and Paul would

December 8 - Nº 342 James 1:13 – 5:20 James had already shared with his readers that the  trials  they were facing had a purpose. They were external tests that God allowed to come into their lives. Experiencing them should bring them closer to God and cause their faith to grow (see  #341 - December 7 ).  Then James went on to explain that  temptations  are very different from trials .  Instead of resulting from  external  causes, temptations are a product of our own  internal