Daily Devotions Historical
All devotions written by Belinda Jo Adams.
Bible version used is The King James Version.
Note: The devotions listed below are also on various other pages, but some have other titles.
Index
Verse: Proverbs 29:22 - "An angry man stirreth up strife, and a furious man aboundeth in transgression." June 28, 1914 in Sarajevo, Bosnia a young man named Gavrilo Princip shot and killed Archduke Ferdinand and his wife. This event started World War I and eventually twenty-three countries became involved. Approximately ten million military people died during the next four years. Could anger have started this war? In one way or the other, it did. Then after the war many nationalities were angry at other nationalities because of the loss of their loved ones Not all anger is bad, though. Jesus never sinned, but He became angry with the moneychangers in the temple. (Matthew 21:12 & Mark 11:15) When we do become angry at what we think is an injustice, we need to settle whatever is bothering us peacefully. Ephesians 4:26 "Be ye angry and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath: Neither give place to the devil." Eph. 4:31 tells us to put anger away from us. Don't let the devil win a victory in your life. If you are angry with someone go to them and settle the matter, soon! Related Proverbs verses:14:17;,29 15:18; 16:32;19:11,19; 22:24,25; 25:28; 27:4
Verse: Proverbs 27: "Boast not thyself of tomorrow for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth." The sinking of the Titanic was one of history's greatest marine disasters. The 2208 passengers and crew of the Titanic traveled on the safest and largest ship at that time. The first-class passengers enjoyed a pleasurable trip across the Atlantic Ocean basking in luxury and comfort until disaster struck. During the night of April 14, 1912 the ship hit an iceberg. Two and a half hours later 1,503 people had died. Many of them, during their last minutes, called upon God for mercy. Many people throughout time have lived the way they wanted to live then at a time of disaster in their lives called upon God. God will save a person when they ask Him, even on a deathbed, but why wait? You can have a lifetime of days to serve God by accepting Him and living for him instead of waiting until your life seems over. We do not have to wait until disaster or sickness strikes to call upon God. Jesus came, died and rose again so we might have everlasting life (John 3:16 & I Corinthians 15:1-4). II Corinthians 6:2 says "...behold now is the accepted time; behold now is the day of salvation." If you have not accepted Jesus as Savior, make today the best day of your life by doing so! Related Proverbs verses: 8:35, 36
3. Hull House
Verse: Proverbs 19:17 "He that hath pity upon the poor lendeth unto the Lord; and that which he hath given will he pay him again." Jane Addams lived from 1860-1935. She had a great concern for poor people, especially women. In 1899 she and Ellen Gates Star established a social settlement in Chicago called Hull House. They helped many women during the years. Many verses in Proverbs speaks against laziness and warns people who would be lazy that they would also be poor. As Christians we should not approve of that attitude. Many people are poor, though, because of hard times. Those people we should help. There are many programs that help people in need. We should prayerfully find one we can support or do things on our own as God leads. I Corinthians 8:9 "For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich." Jesus left the riches of Heaven to be born in a stable. He knew what it was like to be poor, but did it for us. He wanted us to accept Him as Savior so we can share in his riches in Heaven forever. Related Proverbs verses: 22:2; 14:31; 17:5; 28:27; 29:7; 31:20
Verse: Proverbs 20:27 "The spirit of man is the candle of the Lord, searching all the inward parts of the belly." Cape Hatteras is on the easternmost point of a line of islands off the coast of North Carolina. That area is known as the 'graveyard of the Atlantic' because of storms and dangerous shoals. These hazards have caused many ships to sink off that coast. Since 1798 lighthouses have been built from Cape Hatteras down to Cape Lookout to warn sailors of these dangers. Christians are to be 'candles of the Lord'. We are to live our life in such a way to warn others of the dangers of continuing in sin. Jesus said in Matthew 5:16 "Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven." Some people say, "I have Christ as my Savior. I am going to heaven so it doesn't matter how I live." Yes, it does! Philippians 2:15 "That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world. Our children in Sunday school sing "This little light of mine, I'm going to let it shine!" We should let our light shine also, so others will come to Christ? Just as the virgins in Matthew 25:7 'arose and trimmed their lamps' while waiting for the bridegroom and just as the lighthouse keeper makes sure the light is in tip-top condition, let us make sure our lights shine for Jesus, our bridegroom, who is coming! Related Proverbs verses: 4:18; 13:9
5. The Word Of The Lord Was Precious
Verse: "And the child Samuel ministered unto the LORD before Eli. And the word of the LORD was precious in those days; there was no open vision" (I Samuel 3:1). During the time when Samuel was a boy and helping in the temple, God was not making Himself known by visions or speaking to people. They also did not have the whole Bible as we have it today. This verse says the word of the Lord was precious in those days. During the years of our world history, there were many times when people, even religious people would not let other people read God's Word for themselves. In many Communist countries they try to destroy the Bible. People risked their lives just to have a page of the Bible and shared with their friends. They wanted to read and study God's Word, and it did not matter if they were threatened. Do we take the Bible for granted today? We should read it, memorize it, and cherish it daily. We should study it daily and not just ignore it. Then if the Word of God is taken from us, we will have it in our hearts and minds. Prayer: Dear God, please help me to remember to read Your Word, to memorize verses and study to be approved unto You. Amen.6. Alexander Graham Bell
Read: Proverbs 6 Verse: Proverbs 6:17-19 - 'These six things doth the Lord hate: yea seven are an abomination unto him: A proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, An heart that deviseth wicked imaginations, feet that be swift in running to mischief, A false witness that speaketh lies, and he that soweth discord among brethern.' June 2, 1875 Alexander Graham Bell was successful in transmitting the sound of someone's voice from one room to another through a wire. It has been said that the telephone was one of the worse inventions invented for sake of Christianity. Many people have used it for a means of gossip and can quickly do most of the things included in these verses. I was involved in this as a new Christian. When my friend called me and started her evil reporting I did not want to gossip or even agree with her. I kept saying 'uh-huh' to be polite. Later, she used it against me when she said I agreed with every thing she said. I learned quickly, the hard way, not to listen to people who gossip. In Ephesians 4:30-32 Paul warns us to not grieve the Holy Spirit and lists examples. One of these is by evil speaking. Ephesians 4:29 "Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers." Related Proverbs verses: 11:13; 12:6; 16:27,28; 17:9; 18:8,21; 20:19; 26:20,22
7. America's First Ladies
Read: Proverbs 12 Verse: Proverbs 12: 4 - A virtuous woman is a crown to her husband: but she that maketh ashamed is as rottenness in his bones. First Ladies of the United States have only been called that for about a hundred years. Before that time it was thought a woman was to stay in the background and not bring undue attention to herself. All the First Ladies were not wives due to maybe sickness or the President being a bachelor or a widower. In that case, a relative took on the job, and was called Hostess for the White House. Each of these ladies had an important role of supporting the President and contributing to our nation with their talents. If she brought disgrace to herself, she also brought disgrace to the President. In II John he writes to the 'elect lady'. Verse 1 says, "The elder unto the elect lady and her children, whom I love in the truth and not I only, but also all they that have known the truth.' I think this was a special woman were many women in the Old and New Testaments, as they served God by supporting the man God gave them to help. There have only been forty-three women to take on the role of First Lady and there have been millions of women in America. It is true we cannot all be The First Lady, but we can support and encourage the man God has given us to help. Let's truly be first ladies for God! Related Proverbs verses: 21:5; 24:27
8. The Olympics
Verse: Proverbs 13: 19 - 'The desire accomplished is sweet to the soul...' The Olympic games have been going on for many centuries. The participants train to do their very best. They set aside personal desires and time with their peers. Their goal is to win the medal. As they play in the games with the crowd cheering them on, they give their all for the sport. If that same person had sat home and never tried they would not have that sweet moment of success. Hebrews 12: 1 "Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us." Paul tells us, as Christians, we are in a race in our service to God. Maybe we have to set aside personal desires and not join in with our peers to accomplish this goal. As we do this we can read the next verse,' Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith...' He is our guide and his "well done" is our trophy. If we sit and do nothing we will never see our goals completed. We need to set goals in our lives each day so we don't get caught in Satan's trick of being lazy. Then we need to get up and do something about it. A list laying on a table will only collect dust. It needs to collect pencil lines as you mark off each accomplished goal. Related Proverbs verses: 3:26; 29:18
9. World History
Verse: And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature ( Mark 16:15). The study of world history is an interesting study. One theme weaves through time and that is during all time, people have worshipped something, whether the true God, a god, or a man. The Old Testament tells us that many times, Israel left serving the one and only true God to worship the false gods of the nations around them. Each time God had to take action to bring them back to Him. Long ago, the monks built monasteries (fortresses) up high in the mountains to live in so they could keep evil influences away from them. They lived by a set of rules and studied about God. Everything they observed in nature, they related it to God through analogies. They re-lived the past over and over in their studies and discussions, while looking to the end time when they would be with God. We can thank these men that they copied the Scriptures and other books again and again, preserving them for us today. But, did they reach out to the outside world? Was anyone trying to reach others with the true gospel? Are we doing any better today? Do we ignore the world around us as we have our fellowships among our own Christian family. Or are we inviting others to come and experience the blessings with us so they can see the way of salvation in our lives and by our words? We need to remember to invite our friends and neighbors to our church and its activities. Dear God, Help me to remember to reach out to my neighbors and other people I meet along life's way, so we can see more people accept Jesus as Savior. Amen.10. The Great Reformation
Verse: "Which stood only in meats and drinks, and divers washings, and carnal ordinances, imposed on them until the time of reformation" (Hebrews 9:10). In the 1500's an event happened that changed the way many people believed about salvation. The Roman Catholic Church was the religion of the day. The Bible was in Latin so only the church leaders could read it. If it had been in the people's language most of them could not read anyway, because many people could not read. So, they obeyed the rules of the church believing they would go to Heaven if they did so. The church decided they wanted to build a new cathedral in Rome dedicated to St. Peter. They decided to sell indulgences. These pieces of paper promised the person who bought them that they would miss purgatory. They could even buy them for people already dead to get them out. Martin Luther was a young monk, studying for his ministry. He realized that many of the rules imposed on the people were not right according to the Bible. When they started selling the indulgences, he was angered, because he understood that salvation was only by faith through Jesus. He decided to present his arguments to the church for a discussion and wrote them in Latin to post on the door of the church. Posting items to the church door is what someone did back then when they wanted to make something known. He only meant for the leaders of the church to read them so maybe he could make them realize their wrong teaching and change it. But, the printing press was becoming popular. Someone translated the writing into German and made copies to pass out to the people. As more and more of the people heard these arguments for the Bible, they broke ties with the Roman Catholic Church and The Great Reformation took place. Today, we have many other forms of Christian churches because of this event. But, according to the verse for this devotion, the first reformation took place when Jesus died and rose again for our sins. All through the years, the Jewish law had consisted of offering sacrifices to God for hope of remission of sins. Now, Jesus did away with all that because he is the sacrifice that all those others represented! He is the Savior of the world and presented to us the real great reformation! We can be glad that Martin Luther is responsible for the Great Reformation, for without his step toward trying to encourage the Roman Catholic Church to teach the truth, we may not have the true gospel today that we so freely have and can read for ourselves. Prayer: Thank You, Dear God, that we do not have to obey rules of a church to be saved, but Jesus came to bring us salvation through repenting and trusting in His name. Amen.11. The Industrial Revolution
Verse: Proverbs 4:14-15 “Enter not into the path of the wicked, and go not in the way of evil men. Avoid it, pass not by it, turn from it, and pass away.” George Williams lived in England during the 1800’s. The Industrial Revolution was taking place in England and America. Many men left their farms to work in the factories. In 1841 George also left his family farm and became an apprentice at a dry goods store. The many temptations to sin bothered him. Working many hours he did not have much time alone for Bible study. He soon found several other men who believed in God. They took opportunities to study the Bible and have prayer together. Others joined them and the Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA) was organized June 6, 1844. II Corinthians 6:17a “Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing...” We should not become ‘holier than thou’, though for we must remember from where we came as Ephesians 2:11-13 tells us. If we separate ourselves from everyone we will never have a chance to witness to others. But, if we live the way God wants us to live, our friends who want to continue in sin will soon not want to be with us. God will then lead people into our lives that He wants us to witness to. Related Proverbs verses: 2:10-20; Most of the book!"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life" (John 3:16).