Daily Devotional
Sign up and receive a daily Faith Builder Devotional in your inbox.
| Today |  | October 4 - October 10 2026 |  |
Oct4
The Age Of Accountability & Denial
Ps 97:6 | |
| 6 | The heavens declare His righteousness, And all the peoples see His glory. NKJV One late afternoon, I was on the internet researching a topic. I ran across a video of an American that was calling followers of Jesus incompetent, ignorant, and prejudice. (Just saying that I wondered why he didn’t see his own comments as prejudiced). He was walking in Israel with a camera on him as he said, “There is no way to prove God exists”. It was interesting that they filmed him as he slide along a path in Israel. The camera angle was taken from below and as you looked up listening to this man deny the existence of God and anything good, a gorgeous sky and powerful sun was in the sky right behind him. This man who undoubtedly has deceived or disturbed people in his country with his strong intellect looked so puny and small in front of the awesome creation of our almighty God. Some might curse this man, but as I saw this video it was so clear how his arrogance and deception was not only taking him to eternal darkness and suffering, it was also hurting others. I prayed for him that the Holy Spirit would draw Him to believe. You can deny God all you want, you can curse Him or His people, but there will be a day to pay for what you have done while you were on the earth. If an unbeliever can just look at the creation around themselves they can not honestly deny what God created was created for a purpose. But that is exactly it, like many others this guy was in denial. If there is no God, then he is free to speak foully, be sexually immoral, curse others, and attack people in the name of comedy. When these people stop denying, they will realize how foolish they themselves are. Ps 97:6 says that the heavens declare His righteousness and His glory. God is glorious! Bright and beautiful! Everyone knows that God exists, because it is created in them to know. Romans 1:18-19 says |
| 18 | For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, 19 because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them. NKJV God has revealed Himself to these guys. Those who deny Him are suppressing the truth. When did He start? Well, there is a time we all come to when we wonder why we are here. It varies with people but everyone begins to wonder why they are here. They think, “Did I just happen to come along? Is there a purpose for me being here?” and question why they exist. My Bible teachers call this “The Age of Accountability”. This is the time when young people begin to recognize that they weren’t some accident. They can either deny the desire to figure out they are here or go after Him (which always leads them to God in sincerity). Simply we can go after Him or we can deny Him. You were born for a reason. You came with a purpose to bring light to your world, your family, your spouse, your school, your workplace, your city, your nation, your world. Jesus told us what we need to do. |
Matt 5:16 | |
| Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven. NKJV Are you shining today before people around you? You do it by that good things that you do. Helping the fatherless, feeding the poor, encouraging the disheartened, healing the sick, building up your church family, speaking positive even in the negative... if you have strong faith you can even raise the dead. Jesus did it and others have done it in our day. Faith starts as a little tiny seed and grows into a mighty tree as you feed it. Today, pray for those men and women who are in denial. Pray that their foolishness will not deceive people and that they will see the fallacy of denying the loving Father of the universe. If they still refuse to turn to Him, they will be removed by the prayers of the righteous... that’s you and me. Shine, shine, shine your light before your fellow man! Jesus is coming back soon. Today’s Reading- | |
Proverbs 11 | |
Oct5
Teaching Your Children And Beating Confusio
Isaiah 54:13 | |
| 13 | All your children shall be taught by the Lord, And great shall be the peace of your children. NKJV Many people are thinking about their future. In the developed nations parents thoughtfully encourage their children to study hard so they can get into a good university. What you do in school as a student will affect, directly, what university you can go to, what type of education you can get, what career-path you can choose, and ultimately what future you or your children can have. This is why it is so important for us as believers to raise our children in the ways of the Lord. His ways are not our ways, and His ways are definitely not the ways the world thinks. I met the president of a Swedish president for dinner one day. We had a great time chatting over a nice meal at an Italian restaurant. It was very nice. I had read that Sweden had the highest divorce rates in the world. As I talked with him I found out why. From his description, it sounded like in general marriage was no longer sacred. People would indiscriminately see sex as a part of dating and not a sacred part of a healthy marriage. People would easily have physical relations with multiple partners, begin living with their boyfriend or girlfriend, and maybe get married but maybe not. This low commitment level in relationships has taken it toll on society with more than 50% of those marrying divorcing sometime thereafter. What happened? Apparently this loose thinking on physical relationships has confused what is for marriage and what is for dating. If we think what is for marriage is for dating, then we are going to be confused. Unfortunately, the acts of the parents has affected character of the children. In many places, children are growing up without the father and mother to nurture them and help guide them in the early years which not only sets a poor example, but it affects their future. They are growing up without knowing the God of light so they are in the darkness. Marriage and family is the fundamental fabric of any society to prosper. We must raise our children in God’s ways. Isaiah 54:13 shows us that we need to teach our children how to know God. They must learn to hear His voice with their spirits for themselves. Following Jesus is not something hereditary that one inherits through our parents, it is a choice that we must each make everyday. Our children learn from our example of how we follow Jesus, not if we took them to church or not. When they know Jesus, they will have great peace... even living in a confused or dark world. If you know how to communicate with your father, you can know how he would deal with things. It is the same for the heavenly Father, Yahweh the Almighty God. The Word tells us not to be anxious for anything. Philippians 4:6-7 says, |
| 6 | Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; 7 and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. NKJV We have to know how to make our requests known to God, AND THEN we can have His peace when we ask everything in prayer, with thanksgiving because we know Him. Whether you are a parent with children or a single that will some day have children. Pray this prayer. Father, I thank you that you are my father and you teach me to be a great parent. I pray for my children, give me wisdom to raise my children in your ways. Help me to get them the best training at home, the best education, good sense, loving hearts, a strong sense of direction, leadership skills, and to be the world changers that you have called we who follow you through Jesus your Son I pray. Raise up thousands of godly parents and families in this nation. In the Mighty Name of Jesus I pray. Amen. Today’s Reading- |
Proverbs 13 | |
Oct6
The Responsive God
Genesis 32:26 | |
| 26 | And He said, "Let Me go, for the day breaks." But he said,"I will not let You go unless You bless me!" NKJV I remember studying Ephesians and reading about how we are ‘predestined’ (Ephesians 1:5, 1:11). If you want to be negative, then you could say, “Well, if we are predestined as sons of God then the choice is already made for us. There is no reason to repent and turn to God”. This is a wrong and silly way of thinking. Our God is a compassion God. When you read about Jesus and how He dealt with the people, you’ll see when He saw people in need many times the Word says, “and He was moved with compassion” and healed them, or fed them, or delivered them from the demonic power, or rose their brother or sister from the dead. It is awesome how good our God is. Yahweh is the responsive God. Of course, we are living in ‘time’ that He created, but He does not live by time. There is no such thing as time in heaven or with God. He is not limited by a clock. At the same time, of course He is not choosing who will repent and turn to Him, we all have a choice. He just happens to know the winners but He doesn’t stop the game. Predestination is the foreknowledge with God, who is not limited by time, of whom will turn to Him, and who will turn away. Oh, that all people would turn to Jesus! Paul loved his people so much that he went back to Jerusalem even though the Holy Spirit warned Him about going there. We all make mistakes. Paul was a great man but he was told by Agabus (Acts 21:9) what would happen to him if he went to Jerusalem. Looking at something that has already happened it is easy to judge. However, Paul did have multiple warnings, and still went back to Jerusalem. If Paul would have gone someone else, God would have used him wherever he went as well. God is responsive. In Genesis 32:26 we see a wrestling match of God and man. Jacob was about to go back to His homeland to meet Esau, whom he had deceived and tricked years before. He was probably feeling a bit down and out. Yet he had time to connect with his maker. Here a man came, I believe it was the same “angel of the Lord” that we see in various places around the Old Testament. When I read “the angel of the Lord” on of my Bible teachers says that is Jesus. Here Jacob wrestled with God. I believe he wrestled with Jesus. He didn’t want to let Him go. He wanted more, he didn’t know about his future so he grabbed hold of God. He said, "I will not let You go unless You bless me!" This is when Jacob got his name change, this is when he got his miracle. He became Israel because He held on to God regardless of the situation. God responded to one man. If he will respond to one person, He will respond to you as well. Remember in Exodus 32:10 Moses interceded (he talked to go on behalf of his people) and God responded by graciously forgiving them even thought they didn’t deserve it. We remember Abraham who interceded for the morally filthy cities of Sodom & Gomorrah. He prayed that God would spare them if there were just a certain number of godly people there. God listened and they found that these two cities were buried in perversion. If only there were ten righteous people, that city would have been spared (Genesis 18). There weren’t 10 righteous and the city was destroyed. If God is going to listen to Paul, Abraham, Moses, Joshua, and Jacob, He is going to listen to you. He is responsive, but not a control freak. However, we have to remember people have to come to Him first. James 4:8 confirms, |
| 8 | Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded. NKJV I like how Hebrews says it. |
Heb 10:22 | |
| 22 | let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. NKJV Let’s draw near to our responsive, loving, awesome God today! Today’s Reading- |
Proverbs 14 | |
Oct7
Boldness To Speak The Word
Phil 1:14 | |
| 14 | ...and most of the brethren in the Lord, having become confident by my chains, are much more bold to speak the word without fear. NKJV When you are not led by the Spirit of God and you just follow your flesh, you are going to get in trouble. Paul had gone to Jerusalem against the warnings of the Holy Spirit through other people. He came under both verbal and physical attack by the religious people who felt threatened by anyone who walked in the power of Jesus the Messiah. Paul was one of those people. If you follow the story, you see in Acts how he appealed to Caesar, the Roman ruler in Italy of that day, as he was a citizen his appeal sent him to Rome. He was in Rome under house arrest until he was later executed. Here in Philippians we understand about his chains. He was stuck in a house somewhere awaiting judgement of Caesar or the Roman government there in Italy. Under house arrest he was able to write many encouraging letters back to the believers in the various churches around the region. In Philippians 1 verse 14, he writes how is encouraged by those believers who are bold and aren’t afraid to speak the Word. If you want to be a powerful believer, you must speak the Word. If you want to be a healthy believer, you must speak the Word. If you want to be a prosperous believer you must speak the Word. In Mark 3:5, a man with a deformed and shriveled hand came to ‘church’. The religious people at that church were so caught up in keeping their rules, they forgot about the people. God cares for people more than some ritual or tradition. Jesus spoke to the man telling him to step forward. He knew these folks bound up in man-made traditions wanted to condemn Him but He was fearless about what they thought and told the man, "Stretch out your hand." Jesus spoke the word, and the guy was healed. A farmer preacher from Arkansas says , ‘The biggest problem for most people is about 3 cm below their nose.... their mouth’. You can use it to get yourself into trouble, but you can also use it to get yourself out. Most people talk about what they have, not what they expect. So what do they get? They get what they talk about. Believers, talk about what they expect. Acts 4:29-30 says, |
| 29 | Now, Lord, look on their threats, and grant to Your servants that with all boldness they may speak Your word, 30 by stretching out Your hand to heal, and that signs and wonders may be done through the name of Your holy Servant Jesus." NKJV Jesus had physically ascended to heaven to go prepare a place for the people that witnessed His death on the cross and His resurrection from the dead. He also said He was going there for you and me. In the 2nd Chapter of Acts, they were baptized in the power of the Holy Spirit. By chapter 4 of Acts we see that there were still people threatened by the authority of the preaching and teaching, the signs, the wonders, and the thousands of people turning to Jesus almost daily through these faith-speaking believers. When the believers got in a tight spot what did they do? They prayed for boldness to speak the Word! If you want the fullness that Jesus has won for you, you must speak the Word in every situation. That is what makes the difference between failure and success. As you go about your day today, speak the Word over your job, your family, your school, your future, your boldness to invite people to church, your ability to hear God’s voice with your spirit. The boldness comes when you speak the Word. Today’s Reading- |
Proverbs 17 | |
Oct8
Dealing With Unjust Laws Or Government
Daniel 6:10 | |
| 10 | Now when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went home. And in his upper room, with his windows open toward Jerusalem, he knelt down on his knees three times that day, and prayed and gave thanks before his God, as was his custom since early days. NKJV People were sitting in the walkway in front of the birth control clinic. Their hope was to stop a young woman who was going in to abort their baby. In the United States the abortion industry is a billion dollar industry. They have fought tooth and nail to protect their business, the business of ripping innocent babies out of the wombs of young mothers. Little do these mothers know that the abortion procedure affects their health, they’ll likely have challenges of getting pregnant in the future, and most importantly the guilt they will suffer for the rest of their lives for murdering an innocent baby. As a believer, we all know that we need to obey the authorities and the laws of the land. But there are times when we cannot just sit by and wait. We know Romans 13:1 says, |
| 1 | Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God. NKJV Therefore yes, we must be a good example of our awesome God that we serve by obeying the laws where we live. The Word is clear that thieves, cheaters, sexually immoral, and crooked people will not be in heaven (so you won’t have to worry about your heavenly house being burgled)! Therefore we do need to obey the laws. However, some people live in nations where the laws go counter to God’s Word. What are we to do in this instance? Are we just to stand by and accept laws that go against the Word of God and His ways? Daniel had that same predicament. He was told that they rulers of his nation enacted a law that made it illegal to worship anyone but their king. What was that? Daniel was told there was a law that he could only pray to the king... it was illegal to pray to Yahweh, the creator of heaven and earth. So what did Daniel do? Did he comply? No! We are to obey the laws of the land, however when the laws of the nation try to supersede the laws of Yahweh then they just invalidated themselves. Not all of the laws. You don’t ‘throw out the baby with the bathwater’, our job is to comply with government and respect our government. However, our true nation is the Kingdom of God. Therefore, we must stand up for doing the right thing, but we have to realize that in the last days things are going to get darker. Daniel didn’t throw a fit and start a rebellion when he heard about this law. He just continued seeking the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. (After all, in trying times this is when we need to seek Him more than anything and hear His spiritual directions through our spirits). Daniel went home and went to the room where he always prayed, opened his window and prayed. We don’t know if it was morning or night, but he did it. His enemies were watching and reported him. You know how Daniel was delivered from the punishment for breaking these unreasonable laws. His enemies were thrown into the lions den and the unjust law was repealed. Where did Daniel get his power? Why did God move on his behalf? Daniel 6:10 shows us why. The statement there, “as was his custom” reveals to us why Daniel was strong and a leader in his nation. He was regularly praying and thanking God for His goodness and his mercies. He was spending time on his face before God getting His wisdom and direction regarding his work and his situation. Are you in a tough situation? It’s not the time to stop praying. It the time when you need even more of the power and presence of God. Spend some time with Yahweh each day and watch the power of Jesus the Messiah work in your life! Today’s Reading- |
Proverbs 18 | |
Oct9
The Spiritual Family & Priorites
Luke 14:26 | |
| 26 | "If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple. NKJV My parents are the best. They both came from challenging family environments and were able to turn that around and make an amazing family together. I am so glad to be who I am, and they had a part of that. They have been great role models to me. Jesus talked about family. I remember when He first went into ministry and his step-brothers came to a gathering where He was teaching. It seems like they expected Him to drop everything, come running out of the meeting and say, “Oh, how my I help you dear earthly family?” He didn’t, he said “These are my mother and brothers,” and pointed at the people around Him. Here in Luke 14:26 we see Him saying that we can’t be distracted by our family from doing the things of God. For me, my family was very strong. My connection to them was as well. It is good to have strong family, but once I got married that became a challenge. When you marry, you become one flesh with your spouse so your father, mother, sisters, and brothers change from being ‘family’ to extended family. In my case, in my first year of marriage I had to learn that I needed to prioritize my relationship with my wife over taking directions or advice from my father, mother, sisters, or brothers. We recently heard about husbands who have put socializing with their friends over their marriages. They have gone to parties and spent hours on weekends with friends leaving their wives at home. In some cases the relationships with their wives have suffered and the marriage failed. We’ve got to put our spouse above friends as well as extended family. Moreover, we must put our relationship with God over all else. Does that mean we drop our husband or wife to prioritize things of God. Of course not. If our spouse tells you not to go to church, then you can gracefully smile and nod your head. But your relationship with God will hold your relationship with anyone else. You’ve got to put God first above all else. You’ve got to make time to get to church every week and seek Him every day no matter what. The Lord Jesus summed it up beautifully in Matthew 22:37-40 |
| 37 | Jesus said to him, "'You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.' 38 This is the first and great commandment. 39 And the second is like it: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' 40 On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets." NKJV Who are followers of Jesus? They are people who love God with everything they’ve got. They hate evil. They want to honor Him. They put Him first. God loves people and as the family of God, His children, we love people as well! We should not be afraid to talk to anyone whether they be the president of a nation, or a pauper. A homeless person or a owner of many homesteads, before God we are all equal. God judges us for what we do with the resources we get in life. While we are living on the earth you will learn that God will bless you based on what you do with what you have. Are you faithfully tithing and supporting your local church? Are you a businessman but also working to “Go into all the world with the Gospel”? Are you working to be the best husband or wife to your spouse? Are you the best worker in your company? Are you studying hard to get the highest marks in your school? Are you the best kid in your family? Have you inherited something big and are you using that for a business and putting that back into the kingdom? There is so much we can do. Of course many good people say ‘family first’. As believers our priorities should be 1)God 2) Family 2) Career If you keep your priorities in line, “All these things shall be added to you”. Hallelujah! Today’s Reading- |
Proverbs 19 | |
| Through the Bible in a year at www.vwc.jp | |
Oct10
Overcoming & Dealing With Unbelievers
Acts 4:1-3 | |
| 1 | Now as they spoke to the people, the priests, the captain of the temple, and the Sadducees came upon them, 2 being greatly disturbed that they taught the people and preached in Jesus the resurrection from the dead. NKJV Now if you have ever shared Jesus with someone and what you have done for you, then you know how amazing it is to see when they respond. Even if it is just planting seeds of faith in their lives, when you walk away from that meeting you just feel so good. The Bible tells us that the angels in heaven rejoice when someone repents and turns to Jesus. |
Luke 15:10 | |
| “Likewise, I say to you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents." NKJV It is glorious to see people come to Jesus! What does that word glorious mean? It is that feeling when you’ve won, when you’ve done something right and everyone feels so good. Glory is light, glory is bright! We’ve got just a small taste of the glory of God, but there is so much more. Before a conference at a church all the pastors were gathered in a room to pray. A believer by the name of Smith Wigglesworth walked into that prayer meeting and joined them in prayer. When he started to pray, the glory of God came so strong in that room that everyone had to get out. The light, the power... the glory hit that room because of one strong believer! We must realize that life is not always easy. We are living in a fallen world. Most people are so happy to see the joy, the faith, and the power of the believer. However, there are others that are under the dominion of the enemy, the demonic powers. They don’t like anything happy, joyous, or bright. They want to be down and dark, and make sure everyone else is like them as well. Down people pull people down. That is why you should NEVER marry an unbeliever. They will pull you down. When you share the gospel, these people in the darkness will try to shut you up. They will say things against you. They may not even realize it, but because they are under the power of the world they may even criticize you. However, most of the time their attacks are pretty blatant. That is what happened in Acts 4. The religious people came and tried to get the believers to stop talking about Jesus the Messiah. They were disturbed. They wanted to keep people tied up in religious traditions and bondage not freedom in the Spirit. There are two types of suffering in this world for the believer. One is suffering for the gospel, and the other is suffering for yourself. You don’t want to suffer for your own actions. That is why we need to be led by our spirits that are in tune with the Holy Spirit. I often say, if you share Jesus at the office, make sure you do it on your time. The company is not paying you to share Jesus on their time. Lunch time and breaks are perfect for that. If in some case the Holy Spirit tells you not to share Jesus with someone and you do, it may be because they are very anti-Christ and they may try to persecute you. Overall, we should be telling anyone and everyone what Jesus has done for us and ask the Holy Spirit how to minister to each and every one of them. That is what these guys were doing in the temple, telling people about Jesus. The religious leaders brought the “temple police” so I am sure they were feeling the pressure. They were arrested and confined. This was suffering for the Gospel but you can’t hold God or His people down. Thousands repented and turned to God through their preaching. The religious unbelievers took them to trial. But when you are a Spirit-filled believer, there is no holding you. He will even give you the words to speak and the wisdom to deliver. Acts 4:8 says, | |
| 8 | Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, "Rulers of the people and elders of Israel...” NKJV Peter was filled with the Spirit and the believers overcame this physical attack on them. If Peter was filled with the Holy Spirit, then there must have people who believed but weren’t. You must be a spirit-filled believer. By the power of the Holy Spirit, you will move mountains. Why not start with the spiritual mountains in your life today? Take authority over sickness, lack, depression, sin, lack of self control, high emotions or whatever else you are dealing with today, in the powerful name of Jesus. You are not just a winner, you are more than a winner! Move the glory of God into your life. Today’s Reading- |
Proverbs 20 | |
| Annual Bible Reading Plan at www.vwc.jp | |
| prev | Today | next |
Daily Devotional
Sign up and receive a daily Faith Builder Devotional in your inbox.
