Daily Devotional
God Can Use You!
“Therefore, laying aside all malice, all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and all evil speaking, as newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby, if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is gracious.”
1 Peter 2:1-3
November 22, 2024
Ponder This
Paul knew what it was to be received. He knew what it was to be encouraged. He knew how crucial it was to spiritual development. You have more than money to give—you can give relationship. Why don’t you ask God, “God, give me a new believer that I can encourage and disciple.”
A new believer is like a newborn in the faith. And newborn babies need love. There was a study that said that it is virtually impossible to spoil a baby the first year of his or her life. You can’t give one too much love. Now you can spoil kids, but it is virtually impossible to spoil a baby the first year of its life. All of the love, all of the attention, all of the hugging, all of the kissing, all of the coddling you want to do, just do it.
And I want to say, correspondingly, it is virtually impossible to spoil newborn Christians. Love them, encourage them, build them up in the faith. They need to be loved. They need to be included. Step out of your comfort zone and talk to someone you don’t know; look for the person who is new or sitting on his or her own. God can use you in a mighty way to encourage the new believer and the newcomer.
- Who is a new Christian you know? What have you done to reach out to that person?
- Who encouraged you when you were new to the faith?
Practice This
Encourage a new believer or invite a new member of your church to a meal.
FOR YOUR GIFT TO THE MINISTRY
Front Porch Moments by Gayle Foster
WITH KEY INSIGHTS FROM HER FATHER, ADRIAN ROGERS
I try to unplug each morning with Jesus with just my rocking chair, my Bible, and a pen.
Having a secret place is very important because I know that Jesus is always there waiting for me. I know where I can find Him! His presence is everywhere, but there are places where it is so thick you can cut it with a knife. You may not even have a front porch, but there is a secret place for you as well. God’s invitations are for anyone who will respond. There is no more important request than the one found in Psalm 27:8: “My heart has heard You say, ‘Come and talk with Me.’ And my heart responds, ‘Lord, I am coming.’”
