FOCUS OF THE MONTH (FOM)
PLANTING GODLY SEEDS
SCRIPTURE OF THE WEEK (SOW)
6 I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase.7 So then neither is he that planteth any thing, neither he that watereth; but God that giveth the increase. — 1 Corinthians 3:6-7 KJV
6 I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. 7 So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth. — 1 Corinthians 3:6-7 ESV
Wednesday Corporate Fasting Scripture – Isaiah 58 (ESV); Isaiah 58 (KJV)
Friday End of Week Scripture – Ephesians 3:20-21 (KJV)
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ESV Translation Philosophy
The ESV is an “essentially literal” translation that seeks as far as possible to reproduce the precise wording of the original text and the personal style of each Bible writer. As such, its emphasis is on “word-for-word” correspondence, at the same time taking full account of differences in grammar, syntax, and idiom between current literary English and the original languages. Thus it seeks to be transparent to the original text, letting the reader see as directly as possible the structure and exact force of the original.
In contrast to the ESV, some Bible versions have followed a “thought-for-thought” rather than “word-for-word” translation philosophy, emphasizing “dynamic equivalence” rather than the “essentially literal” meaning of the original. A “thought-for-thought” translation is of necessity more inclined to reflect the interpretive views of the translator and the influences of contemporary culture.
Every translation is at many points a trade-off between literal precision and readability, between “formal equivalence” in expression and “functional equivalence” in communication, and the ESV is no exception. Within this framework, we have sought to be “as literal as possible” while maintaining clarity of expression and literary excellence. Therefore, to the extent that plain English permits and the meaning in each case allows, we have sought to use the same English word for important recurring words in the original; and, as far as grammar and syntax allow, we have rendered Old Testament passages cited in the New in ways that show their correspondence. Thus in each of these areas, as well as throughout the Bible as a whole, we have sought to capture all the echoes and overtones of meaning that are so abundantly present in the original texts.
As an essentially literal translation, taking into account grammar and syntax, the ESV thus seeks to carry over every possible nuance of meaning in the original words of Scripture into our own language. As such, the ESV is ideally suited for in-depth study of the Bible. Indeed, with its commitment to literary excellence, the ESV is equally well suited for public reading and preaching, for private reading and reflection, for both academic and devotional study, and for Scripture memorization.
PRAISE & WORSHIP
DAILY DEVOTIONALS
Sunday, March 9, 2025 – RESTING IN CHRIST – Luke 10:38-42
Our Daily Bread Focus: Fellowship with God; Rest
Today’s Insights
Luke 10:38-42 isn’t the only place we read of Jesus interacting with Mary and Martha. In John 11, Christ once again found His way to Bethany—but not for dinner. Lazarus was sick, and his sisters sent word to Jesus (vv. 1-3). In Luke, the setting was domestic (10:40); in John, the situation involved distress and death (11:3, 17). However, certain dynamics were present in both situations. In Luke 10:38-40, Martha is distracted with serving.
In John 11:20-22, she’s distressed with grief. But in both cases, Christ put things into perspective (Luke 10:41-42; John 11:23-26). As for Mary, in Luke 10, she’s sitting at Jesus’ feet “listening to what he said” (v. 39). In John 11, she’s at His feet again but this time in desperate grief (v. 32). Christ provides the ultimate hope in our grief: “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die and whoever lives by believing in me will never die” (vv. 25-26).
Today’s Devotional
Several years ago, a study analyzed the link between teenage depression and the amount of sleep teens received each night. After reading the study, a young woman commented on the results: “I never seem to know when to stop—I push myself so hard that I end up making myself sick from lack of sleep and stress.” Then she said she wanted to know what it really meant to manage her time to honor God. What was the difference between busyness and fruitfulness?
Being busy is no guarantee for being productive, faithful, or fruitful. Yet we might think that being busy is what’s most important. In Luke 10:41, Jesus gently reminded Martha that she was “worried and upset about many things” and that her sister Mary’s choice of sitting “at the Lord’s feet” (v. 39)—a posture of discipleship—was the better choice.
In our desire to serve Christ, are we doing too much, thinking that He’ll notice us more if we do more? Colossians 3:17 says, “Whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus.” However, it doesn’t say to burn ourselves out in His name. In Psalm 46:10, we hear this reminder: “Be still, and know that I am God.”
Let’s take some time to slow down and spend time with Christ rather than focusing solely on our to-do list. Only then can we find true “rest for [our] souls” (Matthew 11:29).
Reflect & Pray
When have you been too busy to be faithful and fruitful? How can you find rest in Jesus to accomplish what He wants you to do?
Dear Jesus, please help me replace busyness with being still so I can know that You’re God and my life can be fruitful.
Today’s Insights
Nehemiah is a gripping account of inspiring leadership during intense opposition. The Bible introduces us to other heroic figures during this time of exile and restoration. Daniel was betrayed by rival advisors but survived a den of lions (Daniel 6). His three Jewish friends were also betrayed yet endured a burning furnace (3:8-25).
Esther stood up to a genocide planned by Haman, “the most powerful official in the empire” (Esther 3:1 NLT; see chs. 4-8). In a period when Israel wondered if they’d ever have security in their dispersion or in their homeland, God provided hope. He inspired courageous leaders and supernaturally protected His people by turning the tables on their enemies
Today’s Devotional
During a trip to Brazil with a short-term missions team, we helped construct a church building in the Amazon jungle. On the foundation, already laid, we assembled the various parts of the church like a giant LEGO set: supporting columns, concrete walls, windows, steel beams for the roof, and tiles on the roof. Then we painted the walls.
Some people were concerned because they wondered if we could build the church in time during monsoon season. But by God’s grace, the intense rain held off. With help from a few locals and despite various obstacles, we got the job done in record time.
When Nehemiah and the Israelites returned from exile to rebuild Jerusalem’s walls, they faced many obstacles. When their enemies found out what they were doing, they were furious and insulted them (Nehemiah 4:1-3). But Nehemiah prayed and the people persevered together: “We rebuilt the wall till all of it reached half its height, for the people worked with all their heart” (v. 6). When their foes threatened to attack, the Israelites prayed and kept guard as they worked (vv. 7-23). They rebuilt the wall in fifty-two days.
Sometimes we’re faced with a daunting task. Obstacles appear in our way, and we and our brothers and sisters in Christ can lose hope. But times like this can be a triumphant moment with God’s help. Trust Him to hold off the rainstorms and look to Him to overcome.
Reflect & Pray
Why is it hard to live in unity? How can you work together with others?
Dear God, please help me to seek unity with other believers in Jesus.
For further study, read Missing the Mission: Disciples in an Age of Abundance
Today’s Insights
Huiothesia is used only five times in the New Testament (and only by Paul). This word, translated as “adoption to sonship” in Galatians 4:5, is packed with meaning. Huiothesia is a compound Greek word from huios (“son”) and thesia (“placing”). Adoption took place when a child (almost exclusively males in the ancient world) was placed in a family that lacked a suitable heir.
With adoption came privileges, rights, and responsibilities of family membership. Paul used the term adoption, but the concept of family membership is also present in John’s writing: “See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! . . . Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is” (1 John 3:1-2).13:7).
Today’s Devotional
When Abigail’s parents died tragically in a car accident, she inherited a large real estate portfolio. She also learned that her parents had arranged to place the portfolio in a trust. For the time being, she could access only enough money for her college tuition. The rest would come when she was older. Abigail was frustrated, but she later realized her parents’ wisdom in planning a measured delivery of the inheritance.
In Galatians 4, Paul uses a similar example to illustrate Israel’s situation as promised heirs of God’s covenant with Abraham. God had made a covenant with Abraham to bless him, and circumcision was a sign of that promise (see Genesis 17:1-14). However, the sign wasn’t the promise. Abraham’s descendants would await a future descendant who would fulfill it. Isaac was born and pointed to the future birth of a Son who would redeem God’s people (Galatians 4:4-5).
Israel, like Abigail, had to wait until the “time set by his father” (v. 2). Only then could Israel take full possession of the inheritance. What they wanted immediately would arrive in due time with Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection. All who put their faith in Christ were no longer slaves to sin, “but God’s child” (v. 7). A new covenant has been established. We have access to God! We can call him “Abba, Father” (v. 6).
Reflect & Pray
If you profess Jesus as Savior, how are you no longer a slave to sin but a child of God? What does it mean to know Him as Father?
Loving Father, thank You for sending Your Son to address the sin problem of the world.
Discover how salvation can impact every area of your life.
Today’s Insights
The concept of unity that Paul highlights in 1 Corinthians 12 depends on two things. The first is its diversity. Each part of the body has a different function, yet every part is vital. Paul wrote to a society steeped in slavery, and the church brought together groups of people unaccustomed to equality with each other—slave and free, Jew and gentile (v. 13).
How could such a diverse body experience unity? Because of God’s Holy Spirit, who unites us in one purpose. This kind of unity was unique in the world. Paul tells us, “We were all baptized by one Spirit so as to form one body . . . and we were all given the one Spirit to drink” (v. 13). Whether great or small, each member is important for the body to perform properly. As Paul said, “God has put the body together” (v. 24). Many members. One body. One Spirit.
Today’s Devotional
Late one night, a Kenyan elephant sanctuary received a call that an elephant calf had fallen into a well. The rescue team arrived to cries of despair flooding the darkness and discovered that two-thirds of the baby’s trunk had been lost to hyenas. Transporting the calf to their safe haven, they named him Long’uro, which means “something that has been cut.” Though he possessed only one-third of his trunk, Long’uro healed and was embraced by the rest of the herd at the sanctuary. Elephants innately know they need each other, so they help each other.
In 1 Corinthians 12, Paul underscores our need to help each other within the body of Christ. He uses the metaphor of the human body and its individual parts to describe how God intends His people to welcome all gifts in all people because all are needed for His body to function (vv. 12-26). Then Paul explains how unity in diversity is accomplished. “God has put the body together,” he wrote, “giving greater honor to the parts that lacked it, so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other” (vv. 24-25).
Whether weak or strong, fancy or common, let’s help each other. Like the elephants, people need each other too.
Reflect & Pray
When have you received help from the family of God? What will you do to help other believers today?
Dear God, please help me to understand the vital value of each member in the body of Christ and show me how to both receive and give help so that together we’re stronger.
Thursday, March 13, 2025 – A NEW HEART IN CHRIST – Ezekiel 11:14-21
Daily Bread Focuses: Prayer; Salvation
Scripture(s): 1 Timothy 2:1-4; 1 John 5:11-13
Today’s Insights
Just prior to today’s reading from Ezekiel 11, the prophet Ezekiel saw a vision of God’s glory. He looked on the throne of God in the holy of holies (10:1) and saw “the glory of the Lord” rise and move (v. 4). We see the movement of God’s glory from His inner sanctuary in the temple to its threshold and then from the threshold out into the city (vv. 4, 18). Finally, the glory of God left the city by the eastern gate (v. 19).
Ezekiel’s vision shows something the exiled Israelites may not have at first realized: their God went with them. He followed on the same road they traveled, which is why Ezekiel says, “I have been a sanctuary for them in the countries where they have gone” (11:16).
Today’s Devotional
Brock and Dennis were childhood friends, but as they grew up, Brock showed little interest in Dennis’ faith in Jesus. Dennis loved his friend and prayed for him because he knew the path he was going down was dark and depressing. In praying for Brock, Dennis adapted the words of the prophet Ezekiel: “Please God, remove from Brock a heart of stone and give him a heart of flesh” (see Ezekiel 11:19). He longed that Brock would walk in God’s way so he would flourish.
Ten years later, Dennis was still praying faithfully. Then he received a call from Brock: “I just gave my life to Jesus!” Dennis rejoiced, tears brimming, to hear his friend exclaim that he’d finally come to the end of himself and trusted God with his life.
In his prayers, Dennis focused on God’s promises to His people through Ezekiel. Although they’d turned from God with detestable practices, He said He would change their hearts: “I will give them an undivided heart and put a new spirit in them; I will remove from them their heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh” (v. 19). With changed hearts, they would follow their God faithfully (v. 20).
No matter how far we’ve turned from God, He delights to give us warm and loving hearts. We need only to turn to Him with faith and repentance as we trust in Jesus to save us from our sins.
Reflect & Pray
How have you experienced God melting any stubbornness or coldness within? How can you pray for a friend today?
Loving God, thank You for releasing me from my sin and shame.
Learn more about having a personal relationship with God.
Today’s Insights
The creation account in Genesis says that “God created mankind in his own image” (1:27). Ephesians 2:10 also declares that “we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” Jesus set the example for us during His earthly ministry by doing “many good works from the Father” (John 10:32).
Peter elaborates and says: “God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power, . . . he went around doing good and healing all who were under the power of the devil, because God was with him” (Acts 10:38). As believers in Christ, the Spirit will provide the opportunities and empowerment to follow in Jesus’ footsteps and do good works. The fruit of the Spirit’s work in us is “love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness gentleness and self-control” (Galatians 5:22-23).
Today’s Devotional
At first, I ignored the card fluttering to the ground. The father and his little girl who dropped it were just twenty feet away, and I was late for work. Surely they would have realized it, I told myself. But they kept walking. My conscience got the better of me, and I went over to pick it up. It was a prepaid bus ride pass. When I gave it to them, their effusive thanks left me feeling unexpectedly satisfied. Why do I feel so good about doing such a small thing? I wondered.
It turns out that the human body produces chemicals that improve our mood when we’re kind to others. We’re made to feel good when we do good! That’s not surprising, because we were created by a good God who made us to be like Him.
Ephesians 2:10 shows us that blessing others is a part of our very purpose: “We are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” This verse doesn’t simply give an instruction to do good; in a way, it also reflects a part of our God-made nature. We don’t have to be doing great things all the time. If we do something small to help others in our daily lives, we not only get the reward of satisfaction, but we also know that we’re pleasing God—doing exactly what He made us to do.
Reflect & Pray
Who needs a helping hand or an encouraging word? What kind word or simple gesture can you extend to a friend, colleague, or neighbor?
Dear Father, please open my eyes to see how I can be kind to someone today.
Saturday, March 15, 2025 – REVERED AND READ – Psalm 119:17-32
Our Daily Bread Focus: Bible Study; Big Story of the Bible
Today’s Insights
The main theme of Psalm 119 is celebration of the law—the instruction of God—called the Torah. The longest psalm, it’s developed as an acrostic with twenty-two sections—each beginning with succeeding letters of the Hebrew alphabet. This structure was no doubt intended in part as a memory device to aid in the memorization of these important ideas.
Each of those sections contains eight verses. It could be said that Psalm 119 is part of a trilogy of psalms that celebrate Torah (see also Psalms 1 and 19). The psalm is anonymous and lacks a superscription, but verse 1 gives a clear idea of the point of the song: “Blessed are those whose ways are blameless, who walk according to the law of the Lord.”
Today’s Devotional
Our home has a well-stocked, overflowing bookshelf. I have a weakness for beautiful books, especially nice hardcovers, and over the years more and more have been added to the collection. Unfortunately, I haven’t had the time and energy to actually read nearly as many of the volumes as I’ve collected. They remain pristine, beautiful, and—sadly—unread.
There’s a danger that our Bibles can become a bit like that. Essayist John Updike, speaking of the American classic Walden, commented that it risked being as “revered and unread as the Bible.” The difficulty of understanding ancient Scriptures written in different cultures than our own can tempt us to leave our Bibles on the shelf—beautiful, beloved, but unread.
It doesn’t have to be that way. As the psalmist does in Psalm 119, we can turn to God, asking Him to “open [our] eyes” to see Scripture’s riches (v. 18). We can find trustworthy teachers to help us “understand what [we’re] reading” (Acts 8:30). And believers have Christ’s Spirit to guide our hearts to see how it all points to Him (Luke 24:27; John 14:26).
Through Scripture, God can give us strength in times of sorrow (Psalm 119:28), protect us from deception (v. 29), and broaden our understanding of how to joyfully live (vv. 32, 35). The Bible is a priceless gift. May it be both revered and read.
Reflect & Pray
What resources help you understand the Bible? How has God used Scripture to shape your life?
Gracious God, please open my eyes to Your goodness as I read the gift of Scripture.
THIS WEEK’S INSPIRATIONAL THOUGHT BY SISTER CLOVIA
JESUS, THE AMAZING HEART SURGEON
In Psalm 147:3, we are reminded of this truth: “He healeth the broken in heart, and bindeth up their wounds.” Jesus, the amazing heart surgeon, cares about you. He sees the pain you’re experiencing, He hears your cries, and He cares about the condition of your heart.
Rest assured that Jesus knows what you’re going through and what it will take to fully restore your heart. He has a 100% success rate, healing the hearts of those who turn them over to Him.
So, if Jesus is our Heart Surgeon, then God is our Heart Donor! When we ask for a new heart, He offers us His! In Ezekiel 36:26, God says, “A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh.”
Let’s always take a moment and thank God for the promise of a new heart. Whenever your heart is weary or worn out, take God up on His promise of a brand new one. Place your heart in God’s hands. Let Him reconstruct the brokenness and infuse joy into those damaged situations.
God seeks to repair the injuries and fully restore function in every area of your life.
CHRISTIAN-BASED MOVIE OF THE MONTH
***The Daily Devotionals are taken from Our Daily Bread Ministries and the Scriptures are from the BibleGateway.***
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