Dig deeper! 

In your personal journal, consider answering these questions as part of your devotional time:

• Identify one FACT that stands out to you from the reading.
• Consider how you REACT to this fact.  What is God saying to you specifically?  How do you think or feel about it?  Personalize the truth to your own life.
• What is God calling you to ACT upon?  How can you put God’s Word into practice in your own life?  What will you do about this truth today?

Mark 6:30-56

³⁰The apostles gathered around Jesus and reported to him all they had done and taught.

³¹Then, because so many people were coming and going that they did not even have a chance to eat, he said to them, “Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest.”

³²So they went away by themselves in a boat to a solitary place.

³³But many who saw them leaving recognized them and ran on foot from all the towns and got there ahead of them.

³⁴When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. So he began teaching them many things.

³⁵By this time it was late in the day, so his disciples came to him. “This is a remote place,” they said, “and it’s already very late.

³⁶Send the people away so they can go to the surrounding countryside and villages and buy themselves something to eat.”

³⁷But he answered, “You give them something to eat.” They said to him, “That would take eight months of a man’s wages ! Are we to go and spend that much on bread and give it to them to eat?”

³⁸“How many loaves do you have?” he asked. “Go and see.” When they found out, they said, “Five–and two fish.”

³⁹Then Jesus directed them to have all the people sit down in groups on the green grass.

⁴⁰So they sat down in groups of hundreds and fifties.

⁴¹Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke the loaves. Then he gave them to his disciples to set before the people. He also divided the two fish among them all.

⁴²They all ate and were satisfied,

⁴³and the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces of bread and fish.

⁴⁴The number of the men who had eaten was five thousand.

⁴⁵Immediately Jesus made his disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to Bethsaida, while he dismissed the crowd.

⁴⁶After leaving them, he went up on a mountainside to pray.

⁴⁷When evening came, the boat was in the middle of the lake, and he was alone on land.

⁴⁸He saw the disciples straining at the oars, because the wind was against them. About the fourth watch of the night he went out to them, walking on the lake. He was about to pass by them,

⁴⁹but when they saw him walking on the lake, they thought he was a ghost. They cried out,

⁵⁰because they all saw him and were terrified.

⁵¹Immediately he spoke to them and said, “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.” Then he climbed into the boat with them, and the wind died down. They were completely amazed,

⁵²for they had not understood about the loaves; their hearts were hardened.

⁵³When they had crossed over, they landed at Gennesaret and anchored there.

⁵⁴As soon as they got out of the boat, people recognized Jesus.

⁵⁵They ran throughout that whole region and carried the sick on mats to wherever they heard he was.

⁵⁶And wherever he went–into villages, towns or countryside–they placed the sick in the marketplaces. They begged him to let them touch even the edge of his cloak, and all who touched him were healed.

During 2024, we will focus on reading through the New Testament together as a church family. We are challenged throughout the Scriptures to rely on the precious truths found therein; one such verse is Hebrews 4:12, “ For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword…” And we believe that studying the Bible it is critical to our growth as followers of Jesus.  

Dig deeper! 

In your personal journal, consider answering these questions as part of your devotional time:

• Identify one FACT that stands out to you from the reading.
• Consider how you REACT to this fact.  What is God saying to you specifically?  How do you think or feel about it?  Personalize the truth to your own life.
• What is God calling you to ACT upon?  How can you put God’s Word into practice in your own life?  What will you do about this truth today?

Matthew 10:1-23

He called his twelve disciples to him and gave them authority to drive out evil spirits and to heal every disease and sickness.

²These are the names of the twelve apostles: first, Simon (who is called Peter) and his brother Andrew; James son of Zebedee, and his brother John;

³Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax collector; James son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus;

⁴Simon the Zealot and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him.

⁵These twelve Jesus sent out with the following instructions: “Do not go among the Gentiles or enter any town of the Samaritans.

⁶Go rather to the lost sheep of Israel.

⁷As you go, preach this message: ‘The kingdom of heaven is near.’

⁸Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons. Freely you have received, freely give.

⁹Do not take along any gold or silver or copper in your belts;

¹⁰take no bag for the journey, or extra tunic, or sandals or a staff; for the worker is worth his keep.

¹¹“Whatever town or village you enter, search for some worthy person there and stay at his house until you leave.

¹²As you enter the home, give it your greeting.

¹³If the home is deserving, let your peace rest on it; if it is not, let your peace return to you.

¹⁴If anyone will not welcome you or listen to your words, shake the dust off your feet when you leave that home or town.

¹⁵I tell you the truth, it will be more bearable for Sodom and Gomorrah on the day of judgment than for that town.

¹⁶I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves.

¹⁷“Be on your guard against men; they will hand you over to the local councils and flog you in their synagogues.

¹⁸On my account you will be brought before governors and kings as witnesses to them and to the Gentiles.

¹⁹But when they arrest you, do not worry about what to say or how to say it. At that time you will be given what to say,

²⁰for it will not be you speaking, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.

²¹“Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child; children will rebel against their parents and have them put to death.

²²All men will hate you because of me, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved.

²³When you are persecuted in one place, flee to another. I tell you the truth, you will not finish going through the cities of Israel before the Son of Man comes.

~~~~ Survey ~~~~~

King Street Church wants to make sure that the most effective resources are being provided. Below is a link to a short survey (should take 2-3 minutes to complete) about King Street Churches’ daily Bible reading plan. Please note this survey is only about he Bible reading resource that is provided via text, email and the website daily. We plan to use the information from this survey to help us plan the resource going forward. If you have any questions or additional details about the daily reading plan then respond to this email or email [email protected] 

Link to Survey: https://kingstreet.breezechms.com/form/c16f79

~~~~~~

Dig deeper! 

In your personal journal, consider answering these questions as part of your devotional time:

Identify one FACT that stands out to you from the reading.
Consider how you REACT to this fact.  What is God saying to you specifically?  How do you think or feel about it?  Personalize the truth to your own life.
What is God calling you to ACT upon?  How can you put God’s Word into practice in your own life?  What will you do about this truth today?

James 4

What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from your desires that battle within you?

²You want something but don’t get it. You kill and covet, but you cannot have what you want. You quarrel and fight. You do not have, because you do not ask God.

³When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.

⁴You adulterous people, don’t you know that friendship with the world is hatred toward God? Anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God.

⁵Or do you think Scripture says without reason that the spirit he caused to live in us envies intensely?

⁶But he gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says: “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”

⁷Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

⁸Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.

⁹Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom.

¹⁰Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.

¹¹Brothers, do not slander one another. Anyone who speaks against his brother or judges him speaks against the law and judges it. When you judge the law, you are not keeping it, but sitting in judgment on it.

¹²There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the one who is able to save and destroy. But you–who are you to judge your neighbor?

¹³Now listen, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.”

¹⁴Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.

¹⁵Instead, you ought to say, “If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.”

¹⁶As it is, you boast and brag. All such boasting is evil.

¹⁷Anyone, then, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn’t do it, sins.

Dig deeper! 

In your personal journal, consider answering these questions as part of your devotional time:

Identify one FACT that stands out to you from the reading.
Consider how you REACT to this fact.  What is God saying to you specifically?  How do you think or feel about it?  Personalize the truth to your own life.
What is God calling you to ACT upon?  How can you put God’s Word into practice in your own life?  What will you do about this truth today?

James 3

Not many of you should presume to be teachers, my brothers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly.

²We all stumble in many ways. If anyone is never at fault in what he says, he is a perfect man, able to keep his whole body in check.

³When we put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we can turn the whole animal.

⁴Or take ships as an example. Although they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are steered by a very small rudder wherever the pilot wants to go.

⁵Likewise the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark.

⁶The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole person, sets the whole course of his life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell.

⁷All kinds of animals, birds, reptiles and creatures of the sea are being tamed and have been tamed by man,

⁸but no man can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.

⁹With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in God’s likeness.

¹⁰Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers, this should not be.

¹¹Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring?

¹²My brothers, can a fig tree bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water.

¹³Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show it by his good life, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom.

¹⁴But if you harbor bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast about it or deny the truth.

¹⁵Such “wisdom” does not come down from heaven but is earthly, unspiritual, of the devil.

¹⁶For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice.

¹⁷But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere.

¹⁸Peacemakers who sow in peace raise a harvest of righteousness.

~~~~ Survey ~~~~~

King Street Church wants to make sure that the most effective resources are being provided. Below is a link to a short survey (should take 2-3 minutes to complete) about King Street Churches’ daily Bible reading plan. Please note this survey is only about he Bible reading resource that is provided via text, email and the website daily. We plan to use the information from this survey to help us plan the resource going forward. If you have any questions or additional details about the daily reading plan then respond to this email or email [email protected] 

Link to Survey: https://kingstreet.breezechms.com/form/c16f79

~~~~~~

Dig deeper! 

In your personal journal, consider answering these questions as part of your devotional time:

Identify one FACT that stands out to you from the reading.
Consider how you REACT to this fact.  What is God saying to you specifically?  How do you think or feel about it?  Personalize the truth to your own life.
What is God calling you to ACT upon?  How can you put God’s Word into practice in your own life?  What will you do about this truth today?

James 2

My brothers, as believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ, don’t show favoritism.

²Suppose a man comes into your meeting wearing a gold ring and fine clothes, and a poor man in shabby clothes also comes in.

³If you show special attention to the man wearing fine clothes and say, “Here’s a good seat for you,” but say to the poor man, “You stand there” or “Sit on the floor by my feet,”

⁴have you not discriminated among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts?

⁵Listen, my dear brothers: Has not God chosen those who are poor in the eyes of the world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom he promised those who love him?

⁶But you have insulted the poor. Is it not the rich who are exploiting you? Are they not the ones who are dragging you into court?

⁷Are they not the ones who are slandering the noble name of him to whom you belong?

⁸If you really keep the royal law found in Scripture, “Love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing right.

⁹But if you show favoritism, you sin and are convicted by the law as lawbreakers.

¹⁰For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it.

¹¹For he who said, “Do not commit adultery,” also said, “Do not murder.” If you do not commit adultery but do commit murder, you have become a lawbreaker.

¹²Speak and act as those who are going to be judged by the law that gives freedom,

¹³because judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful. Mercy triumphs over judgment!

¹⁴What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him?

¹⁵Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food.

¹⁶If one of you says to him, “Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it?

¹⁷In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.

¹⁸But someone will say, “You have faith; I have deeds.”

¹⁹Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do. You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that–and shudder.

²⁰You foolish man, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless ?

²¹Was not our ancestor Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar?

²²You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did.

²³And the scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness,” and he was called God’s friend.

²⁴You see that a person is justified by what he does and not by faith alone.

²⁵In the same way, was not even Rahab the prostitute considered righteous for what she did when she gave lodging to the spies and sent them off in a different direction?

²⁶As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.

~~~~ Survey ~~~~~

King Street Church wants to make sure that the most effective resources are being provided. Below is a link to a short survey (should take 2-3 minutes to complete) about King Street Churches’ daily Bible reading plan. Please note this survey is only about he Bible reading resource that is provided via text, email and the website daily. We plan to use the information from this survey to help us plan the resource going forward. If you have any questions or additional details about the daily reading plan then respond to this email or email [email protected] 

Link to Survey: https://kingstreet.breezechms.com/form/c16f79

~~~~~~

Dig deeper! 

In your personal journal, consider answering these questions as part of your devotional time:

Identify one FACT that stands out to you from the reading.
Consider how you REACT to this fact.  What is God saying to you specifically?  How do you think or feel about it?  Personalize the truth to your own life.
What is God calling you to ACT upon?  How can you put God’s Word into practice in your own life?  What will you do about this truth today?

James 1

James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, To the twelve tribes scattered among the nations: Greetings.

²Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds,

³because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance.

⁴Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.

⁵If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him.

⁶But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind.

⁷That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord;

⁸he is a double-minded man, unstable in all he does.

⁹The brother in humble circumstances ought to take pride in his high position.

¹⁰But the one who is rich should take pride in his low position, because he will pass away like a wild flower.

¹¹For the sun rises with scorching heat and withers the plant; its blossom falls and its beauty is destroyed. In the same way, the rich man will fade away even while he goes about his business.

¹²Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him.

¹³When tempted, no one should say, “God is tempting me.” For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone;

¹⁴but each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed.

¹⁵Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.

¹⁶Don’t be deceived, my dear brothers.

¹⁷Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.

¹⁸He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of all he created.

¹⁹My dear brothers, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry,

²⁰for man’s anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires.

²¹Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you.

²²Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.

²³Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror

²⁴and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like.

²⁵But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it–he will be blessed in what he does.

²⁶If anyone considers himself religious and yet does not keep a tight rein on his tongue, he deceives himself and his religion is worthless.

²⁷Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.

Dig deeper! 

In your personal journal, consider answering these questions as part of your devotional time:

Identify one FACT that stands out to you from the reading.
Consider how you REACT to this fact.  What is God saying to you specifically?  How do you think or feel about it?  Personalize the truth to your own life.
What is God calling you to ACT upon?  How can you put God’s Word into practice in your own life?  What will you do about this truth today?

Hebrews 13

Keep on loving each other as brothers.

²Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some people have entertained angels without knowing it.

³Remember those in prison as if you were their fellow prisoners, and those who are mistreated as if you yourselves were suffering.

⁴Marriage should be honored by all, and the marriage bed kept pure, for God will judge the adulterer and all the sexually immoral.

⁵Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.”

⁶So we say with confidence, “The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?”

⁷Remember your leaders, who spoke the word of God to you. Consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their faith.

⁸Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.

⁹Do not be carried away by all kinds of strange teachings. It is good for our hearts to be strengthened by grace, not by ceremonial foods, which are of no value to those who eat them.

¹⁰We have an altar from which those who minister at the tabernacle have no right to eat.

¹¹The high priest carries the blood of animals into the Most Holy Place as a sin offering, but the bodies are burned outside the camp.

¹²And so Jesus also suffered outside the city gate to make the people holy through his own blood.

¹³Let us, then, go to him outside the camp, bearing the disgrace he bore.

¹⁴For here we do not have an enduring city, but we are looking for the city that is to come.

¹⁵Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise–the fruit of lips that confess his name.

¹⁶And do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased.

¹⁷Obey your leaders and submit to their authority. They keep watch over you as men who must give an account. Obey them so that their work will be a joy, not a burden, for that would be of no advantage to you.

¹⁸Pray for us. We are sure that we have a clear conscience and desire to live honorably in every way.

¹⁹I particularly urge you to pray so that I may be restored to you soon.

²⁰May the God of peace, who through the blood of the eternal covenant brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep,

²¹equip you with everything good for doing his will, and may he work in us what is pleasing to him, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.

²²Brothers, I urge you to bear with my word of exhortation, for I have written you only a short letter.

²³I want you to know that our brother Timothy has been released. If he arrives soon, I will come with him to see you.

²⁴Greet all your leaders and all God’s people. Those from Italy send you their greetings.

²⁵Grace be with you all.

Dig deeper! 

In your personal journal, consider answering these questions as part of your devotional time:

Identify one FACT that stands out to you from the reading.
Consider how you REACT to this fact.  What is God saying to you specifically?  How do you think or feel about it?  Personalize the truth to your own life.
What is God calling you to ACT upon?  How can you put God’s Word into practice in your own life?  What will you do about this truth today?

Hebrews 12

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.

²Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

³Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.

⁴In your struggle against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood.

⁵And you have forgotten that word of encouragement that addresses you as sons: “My son, do not make light of the Lord’s discipline, and do not lose heart when he rebukes you,

⁶because the Lord disciplines those he loves, and he punishes everyone he accepts as a son.”

⁷Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as sons. For what son is not disciplined by his father?

⁸If you are not disciplined (and everyone undergoes discipline), then you are illegitimate children and not true sons.

⁹Moreover, we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it. How much more should we submit to the Father of our spirits and live!

¹⁰Our fathers disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, that we may share in his holiness.

¹¹No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.

¹²Therefore, strengthen your feeble arms and weak knees.

¹³“Make level paths for your feet,” so that the lame may not be disabled, but rather healed.

¹⁴Make every effort to live in peace with all men and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord.

¹⁵See to it that no one misses the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many.

¹⁶See that no one is sexually immoral, or is godless like Esau, who for a single meal sold his inheritance rights as the oldest son.

¹⁷Afterward, as you know, when he wanted to inherit this blessing, he was rejected. He could bring about no change of mind, though he sought the blessing with tears.

¹⁸You have not come to a mountain that can be touched and that is burning with fire; to darkness, gloom and storm;

¹⁹to a trumpet blast or to such a voice speaking words that those who heard it begged that no further word be spoken to them,

²⁰because they could not bear what was commanded: “If even an animal touches the mountain, it must be stoned.”

²¹The sight was so terrifying that Moses said, “I am trembling with fear.”

²²But you have come to Mount Zion, to the heavenly Jerusalem, the city of the living God. You have come to thousands upon thousands of angels in joyful assembly,

²³to the church of the firstborn, whose names are written in heaven. You have come to God, the judge of all men, to the spirits of righteous men made perfect,

²⁴to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.

²⁵See to it that you do not refuse him who speaks. If they did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, how much less will we, if we turn away from him who warns us from heaven?

²⁶At that time his voice shook the earth, but now he has promised, “Once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens.”

²⁷The words “once more” indicate the removing of what can be shaken–that is, created things–so that what cannot be shaken may remain.

²⁸Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe,

²⁹for our “God is a consuming fire.”

Dig deeper! 

In your personal journal, consider answering these questions as part of your devotional time:

Identify one FACT that stands out to you from the reading.
Consider how you REACT to this fact.  What is God saying to you specifically?  How do you think or feel about it?  Personalize the truth to your own life.
What is God calling you to ACT upon?  How can you put God’s Word into practice in your own life?  What will you do about this truth today?

Hebrews 11:17-40

¹⁷By faith Abraham, when God tested him, offered Isaac as a sacrifice. He who had received the promises was about to sacrifice his one and only son,

¹⁸even though God had said to him, “It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned.”

¹⁹Abraham reasoned that God could raise the dead, and figuratively speaking, he did receive Isaac back from death.

²⁰By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau in regard to their future.

²¹By faith Jacob, when he was dying, blessed each of Joseph’s sons, and worshiped as he leaned on the top of his staff.

²²By faith Joseph, when his end was near, spoke about the exodus of the Israelites from Egypt and gave instructions about his bones.

²³By faith Moses’ parents hid him for three months after he was born, because they saw he was no ordinary child, and they were not afraid of the king’s edict.

²⁴By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be known as the son of Pharaoh’s daughter.

²⁵He chose to be mistreated along with the people of God rather than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a short time.

²⁶He regarded disgrace for the sake of Christ as of greater value than the treasures of Egypt, because he was looking ahead to his reward.

²⁷By faith he left Egypt, not fearing the king’s anger; he persevered because he saw him who is invisible.

²⁸By faith he kept the Passover and the sprinkling of blood, so that the destroyer of the firstborn would not touch the firstborn of Israel.

²⁹By faith the people passed through the Red Sea as on dry land; but when the Egyptians tried to do so, they were drowned.

³⁰By faith the walls of Jericho fell, after the people had marched around them for seven days.

³¹By faith the prostitute Rahab, because she welcomed the spies, was not killed with those who were disobedient.

³²And what more shall I say? I do not have time to tell about Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel and the prophets,

³³who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised; who shut the mouths of lions,

³⁴quenched the fury of the flames, and escaped the edge of the sword; whose weakness was turned to strength; and who became powerful in battle and routed foreign armies.

³⁵Women received back their dead, raised to life again. Others were tortured and refused to be released, so that they might gain a better resurrection.

³⁶Some faced jeers and flogging, while still others were chained and put in prison.

³⁷They were stoned ; they were sawed in two; they were put to death by the sword. They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and mistreated–

³⁸the world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, and in caves and holes in the ground.

³⁹These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised.

⁴⁰God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect.

Dig deeper! 

In your personal journal, consider answering these questions as part of your devotional time:

Identify one FACT that stands out to you from the reading.
Consider how you REACT to this fact.  What is God saying to you specifically?  How do you think or feel about it?  Personalize the truth to your own life.
What is God calling you to ACT upon?  How can you put God’s Word into practice in your own life?  What will you do about this truth today?

Hebrews 11:1-16

Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.

²This is what the ancients were commended for.

³By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible.

⁴By faith Abel offered God a better sacrifice than Cain did. By faith he was commended as a righteous man, when God spoke well of his offerings. And by faith he still speaks, even though he is dead.

⁵By faith Enoch was taken from this life, so that he did not experience death; he could not be found, because God had taken him away. For before he was taken, he was commended as one who pleased God.

⁶And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.

⁷By faith Noah, when warned about things not yet seen, in holy fear built an ark to save his family. By his faith he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness that comes by faith.

⁸By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going.

⁹By faith he made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise.

¹⁰For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God.

¹¹By faith Abraham, even though he was past age–and Sarah herself was barren–was enabled to become a father because he considered him faithful who had made the promise.

¹²And so from this one man, and he as good as dead, came descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as countless as the sand on the seashore.

¹³All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance. And they admitted that they were aliens and strangers on earth.

¹⁴People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own.

¹⁵If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return.

¹⁶Instead, they were longing for a better country–a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.