My Daily Briefing
Daily Devotions

December 7 - Nº 341 James 1:1-18 In his Gospel, Matthew explained that following the miraculous birth of Jesus, Mary and Joseph had four...

December 6 - Nº 340 Philippians 2:12 – 4:23 In his “thank you” letter to the Philippians, Paul addressed some issues he knew they were...

December 5 - Nº 339 Philippians 1:1 – 2:11 Paul first arrived in Philippi during his second missionary journey. He had planned to go...

December 4 - Nº 338 Philemon Members of the church in Colossae gathered as they usually did in the home of a man named Philemon to...

December 3 - Nº 337 Colossians 1 – 4 It was not unusual for church leaders from the different cities where Paul had ministered to show up...

December 2 - Nº 336 Ephesians 6:10-20 Paul was in the middle of writing a letter to the believers in Ephesus. He had just described all...

December 1 - Nº 335 Ephesians 4:1 – 6:9 Paul had begun his first prison epistle by describing all the amazing benefits God offered to the...

NOVEMBER 30 - Nº 334 Ephesians 1 – 3 While he was confined to a house and chained to a soldier in Rome, Paul never stopped sharing the...

NOVEMBER 29 - Nº 333 Acts 28:15-31 Some of the believers in Rome heard that Paul was on his way, so they traveled almost 50 miles to a...

NOVEMBER 28 - Nº 332 Acts 27:44 – 28:14 Some swam, some floated-on planks and some clung to debris from the ship,  but all 276 men that had been on board the sinking vessel that had been headed for Rome made it safely to shore.   Before long, they realized that the small island they had reached was Malta. This was good news. They had not landed in Africa where they could have been enslaved or killed. Instead, they were on an island ruled by the Romans.  The castaways were dre

NOVEMBER 27 - Nº 331 Acts 27:21-44 It was a disastrous situation on board the ship that was transporting Paul to Rome.  The crew and passengers were caught in a catastrophic storm.  There was no way to steer the ship in the hurricane force winds as it was battered and tossed by tumultuous waves. Most of the supplies had been thrown overboard to lighten the load. And all 276 of the sailors, soldiers, and prisoners had given up hope—except for one! Paul spoke up to encourage th

NOVEMBER 26 - Nº 330 Acts 27:3-20 The first stop on the long journey to Rome was a port called Sidon. Julius, the centurion in charge of the prisoners on the ship, granted Paul permission to go on shore to visit some friends and get supplies.  Julius must have had tremendous respect for Paul to allow him to do this, since letting a prisoner escape could have cost the Roman guard his life.   Strong winds made the next part of the trip difficult, but eventually the ship was abl

NOVEMBER 25 - Nº 329 Acts 26:22 – 27:2 As Paul stood in the great meeting room filled with important people, he summarized his message. “Everything that I teach is a fulfillment of what Moses and the Prophets predicted would happen,” he explained. “They prophesied that the promised Messiah would suffer and die and be raised from the dead. They said that after his resurrection he would bring a message of light to both the Jews and the Gentiles.”  At this point Festus (the new

NOVEMBER 24 - Nº 328 Acts 25:13 – 26:21 When Rome expanded its control along the eastern Mediterranean shores, the Jewish countries previously known as Israel and Judah became part of the Roman Empire (see  #208 - July 27 ). Although these countries (now called provinces) were ruled by Roman governors, the empire allowed them to maintain their own identity and to have their own Jewish puppet kings who reported to Rom.  One of these kings was Herod Agrippa II.  Shortly after F

NOVEMBER 23 - Nº 327 Acts 24:27 – 25:12 Felix, the Roman governor of Judea, was already very unpopular leader (see  #326 - November 22 ). The Jews under his authority despised him. He realized that if he set the apostle Paul free, they would start a riot. Such a disturbance would cause Caesar to think he was a weak ruler who couldn't control his subjects. He would be forced to give up his position and might even be put to death. So, although he found no truth in the allegati

NOVEMBER 22 - Nº 326 Acts 24 Five days after Paul arrived in Caesarea, his accusers showed up to bring charges against him. Among his accusers were Ananias, the high priest of Israel, some of the highest officers in the Sanhedrin, and a skilled lawyer named Tertullus. These were some of the most powerful men in Israel, and  they were determined to get Paul convicted and sentenced to death.  Tertullus began his case against Paul by flattering Felix, the Roman governor. He prai

NOVEMBER 21 - Nº 325 Acts 23:11-35 Following the fiasco in front of the Sanhedrin (see  #324 - November 20 ), Paul was sent back to the Roman barracks. He must have been very discouraged.  He was doing everything God asked him to do, yet he was still a prisoner.   In the darkness that night, Jesus personally visited him. But instead of setting Paul free (as an angel had done before—see  #306 - November 2 ), the Lord stood beside him and comforted him. “Don’t be discouraged,”

NOVEMBER 20 - Nº 324 Acts 22:25 – 23:10 The commander of the Roman troops in Jerusalem was confused. He couldn’t figure out what Paul had done to cause such an uproar in his city. He decided to have Paul chained, flogged, and interrogated until he was willing to confess to whatever crime he had committed.  As Paul was being chained to a pole to receive the brutal beating, he turned to the centurion and asked,  “Is it legal for you to flog a Roman citizen who hasn’t been found

NOVEMBER 19 - Nº 323 Acts 21:27 – 22:24 Paul was constantly being watched while he was in Jerusalem.   The Jews (even many of the Jewish  believers ) did not trust him. They felt that he was a traitor to his Jewish heritage, so they looked for reasons to condemn him.  One day, near the end of his purification ritual (see  #322 - November 18 ), some Jewish men saw Paul walking through the streets of Jerusalem. He was talking to a man from Ephesus named Trophimus.  Later, those

NOVEMBER 18 - Nº 322 Acts 21:1-26 After a tearful goodbye with the elders from Ephesus (see # 321 - November 17 ) Paul re-boarded the ship he had sailed on from Assos. It continued its trip, sailing from Miletus to Patara. There Paul and his traveling companions had to change ships. They were able to find one that was headed to Caesarea--which was the Roman capital of Israel and the closest port to Jerusalem.  The ship had to make several stops along the way, so it was a slow

NOVEMBER 17 - Nº 321 Acts 20 After three months in Corinth, Paul prepared to board a ship that would sail straight back to Antioch in Syria where his third missionary journey had begun. But  he learned that some Jews who opposed him were plotting against him. They would likely attack him on the ship. S o he changed directions and took an overland route through Macedonia. Several of his companions went with him. When they arrived in Philippi, they sailed across the Aegean Sea

NOVEMBER 16 - Nº 320 Romans 9 – 16 After explaining the basic principles of the Gospel and sharing the benefits of accepting God’s incredible gift of eternal life, Paul revealed something to the Roman believers that was breaking his heart. “I have great sorrow and constant anguish for my people, the people of Israel,” he said.  “I’d give up anything—even my own salvation, if I could—for them to experience the blessings of being part of God’s family!”  Paul explained that God

NOVEMBER 15 - Nº 319 Romans 6 – 8 In the first part of his letter to the Romans, Paul explained that no one is righteous enough to enter God’s holy presence. No amount of good works, or obedience to the Law, or performing of rituals can make it possible. The only way that anyone can have a relationship with God is through faith in what Jesus did on the cross. The result of that faith is God’s gracious gift of eternal life. Because of God’s grace, all our sins—past, present, a

NOVEMBER 14 - Nº 318 Acts 20:2-3; Romans 1 – 5; 6:23 Paul was on his way to Jerusalem to give a report about everything that had taken place on his third missionary journey. He also planned to deliver the gifts that various Gentile churches had donated for famine relief in Judea. But before he arrived in Jerusalem, Paul wanted to fulfill his promise to visit the believers in Corinth. So, after encouraging the churches in Macedonia, he headed south to Greece.  Because it was w