Daily Devotional
Sign up and receive a daily Faith Builder Devotional in your inbox.
| Today |  | November 29 - December 5 2026 |  |
Nov29
Empty Without It
Matt 9:28-39 | |
| 28 | And when He had come into the house, the blind men came to Him. And Jesus said to them, "Do you believe that I am able to do this?" They said to Him, "Yes, Lord." |
| 29 | Then He touched their eyes, saying, "According to your faith let it be to you." |
| 30 | And their eyes were opened. NKJV “God heals, faith doesn’t, and all prayers are subject to God’s will”, are the comments in the notes section of a popular American study Bible for James 5:15. What a deception! Don’t believe something because it is printed up! Just because you see something said in church or printed in the notes section of a Bible does not mean that it is accurate. The DAM (or dark ages mentality )is an unscriptural poison that exists in people’s minds in various churches around the world. It is bondage and not freedom for the committed Christian. If someone says something unscriptural to you (whether the person is unknown or a famous leader), just smile and say, “I am moved by the Word of God not by what I see or hear”. The Lord Jesus made it very clear that faith is important to receiving from God. Faith is expecting the good things to come. When He healed people and He said things like, “Your faith has made you well”. What did He tell those blind people in Matthew 9? He told them they were healed ‘according to their faith’. YOUR faith and the condition of it is important. Many people don’t read and know the Word, so they don’t know God’s will. If something bad happens they frequently comment, “if it is God’s will”... everything is “If it is God’s will”. Sometimes you hear people say things like, “See you tomorrow, God-willing”. When you know the Word, you want to say, “God IS willing, but are you?” If you know the Word of God, you will not only be led by Him, but you will know the truth from the false. People who are always acting spiritual but do not know the Word of God can be tricked easily. In this case, the Bible is very clear about faith. When I read those notes in that study Bible I wanted to rip them out because I didn’t want people to be deceived by that DAM teaching. Immediately I was reminded about what the Bible (which is God’s will), says about faith. Here’s a few things to build you up. 1) The believer (the just, the righteous, the committed Christian) lives by faith (Habakuk 2:4, Romans 1:17). 2) Faith is like a small seed that can grow into something huge if you build it (Luke 17:6) 3) Faith purifies (Acts 15:9) 4) Faith encourages yourself and others (Romans 1:12) 5) Faith is a law that you put into action when you believe (Romans 3:27) 6) Faith justifies and makes you right before God not any activity or ritual(Romans 3:28, Romans 3:20, 2 Cor 5:21). 7) By faith we gain access to God’s things (Romans 5:2) 8) Faith comes by the ‘hearing’ or study of the Word of God (Romans 10:17) 9) Faith is how you stand through the hard times (Romans 11:20) 10) We are to walk by faith, not what we see (2 Cor 5:7) There is so much more to say about faith. You should grab a Bible concordance and look up faith for yourself after work or during this week. You will be strengthened. When you get to Hebrews 11 you will see exactly what faith is, what people did with it in their circumstances, and how without faith it is impossible to please God (Hebrews 11:6). That’s right, IMPOSSIBLE to please Him. If God is not pleased with us, we will not be with Him when our bodies die. Faith is something we need to live by. Without it we are empty, with it we can move mountains. Today’s Reading- |
Proverbs 9 | |
| Annual Bible Reading Plan at www.vwc.jp | |
Nov30
Abundance Or Lack, It’s What You Wear
Deuteronomy 30:19-20 | |
| 19 | I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live; 20 that you may love the Lord your God, that you may obey His voice, and that you may cling to Him, for He is your life and the length of your days; NKJV In other Faithbuilders we’ve heard about the Dark Ages Mentality (DAM). The DAM misleads by locking people into the bondage that poverty is somehow next to godliness, that God somehow sickness is just something God teaches you with, or even that whatever happens to you is God’s will. When I was a teenager, I also picked up DAM not necessarily because my parents taught it to me, but more so because the enemy has worked hard to pollute the church of Christ with these unscriptural ways of thinking. God is light and in Him is no darkness. Only good comes from Him because He is perfect. We are his children and a good father looks after his children. I have discovered our heavenly Father takes even better care of us than an human father ever could. However, there is one thing that Joshua knew was important to every believer’s success. It is the choices they make. I’ve told the story of an American father with three sons. The youngest son was especially successful in business. He made the choice to work very hard to exceed in business. Although he worked very hard during the week, Sunday’s were the Lord’s day and he was always in church with his family. Saturdays were the days he took off to give his wife a break from raising those young children. The other brother made the choice to become a school teacher, although he worked hard teaching he had a lot more time for vacations and time at home. One day, the youngest son visited his parents. The father was encouraging the affluent son to give something to his elder brother, “because he had made a sacrifice to society” by becoming a teacher. When I heard the story I thought it sad to see a father pressuring his son who had worked so hard to give to the other son who had done less. This is probably why Marxist communism has failed. Beyond heaven, there is no place were everyone works equally hard for the good of all. The older son was a teacher because that was the choice he made, regardless of society. It is all about his choice. It is the same with spiritual things. It is all about the choices you make today. What you have now is the result of the decisions you made yesterday. The Lord Jesus recognized the importance of choices. He did not allow others to influence the good choices of those who loved Him. In Luke 10:42, Martha was busy doing the housework and preparing food, while her sister choice to enjoy the time listening to the master. When Martha complained Jesus defended Mary’s choice saying, |
| 42 | But one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away from her." NKJV For someone to make the leap from a Cultural Christian to a committed Christian, you have to decide you are going to put the Word first. Psalms 119:173 says, |
| 173 | Let Your hand become my help, For I have chosen Your precepts. NKJV You’ve got to choose to spend time reading and meditating His Word, His precepts. Especially in this time where entertaining yourself through games and media can kill so many hours of the day. Make a decision that you are going to go whole-heartedly after God today. Spend time in His Word, pray, confess His Word over yourself, your family, your job or school. Wait on Him, and He will renew your strength, your know-how, and your joy. The choice of abundant life is not always smooth because sometimes it is easier to be distracted by the things of this world or even just to sleep. However, it is like putting on clothes. You don’t go to a social party in a ripped shirt and soiled trousers. Ezekiel 18:31 says, |
| 31 | Cast away from you all the transgressions which you have committed, and get yourselves a new heart and a new spirit... NKJV Spiritual changes are sometimes like changing clothes. You have to take (or cast) off the old and put on something new. You have to decide to put on ‘speaking words of faith’. You have to decide to put on a ‘work a bit harder’ mentality. You have to decide to go after more that God has for you and not just settle for what you have now. It is not about others’ choices, it is about what you have chosen. When asked, “Who will you serve today, this week, this month, this year?” You’ve got to respond like Joshua saying , “As for me and my house, we will serve Yahweh forever”. Today’s Reading- |
Proverbs 10 | |
| Annual Bible Reading Plan at www.vwc.jp | |
Dec1
Not Impossible, It’s God Possible
Luke 18:27 | |
| 27 | But He said, "The things which are impossible with men are possible with God." NKJV He was new to the job. He had worked for years at his previous company for 8 years when suddenly the owner decided to shut down the business. Everyone at the company would lose their jobs. He was not a native to Japan but was born in Africa with a passion for God and His ways. Regardless, he was out of work. He knew God had a great plan for him as he had a beautiful wife and daughter to take care of. The others who worked with Him quickly jumped to the next jobs. No motivated person wants to be unemployed or sitting idle every day. However this guy knew that God had something greater for him. He didn’t get nervous or rushed because he knew God had something for him. He saw many job opportunities but knew after carefully looking at each one that there wasn’t that match which he was expecting in a job. He was believing God for a certain job, with a certain salary, and hours that would not interfere with getting to God’s house on Sundays and prayer meetings during the week. God told him to stop going to a job placement agency near his house and to go to an agency farther away. So in faith, he followed the guiding of the Holy Spirit and went to the far agency for a few weeks. The job agency staff were amazed he would come from so far, but they started sifting through the jobs. In a little time they found him a job that he knew was for him. Not only was it what he was expecting, it was near his house. Hallelujah! Within 3 months he went from a temporary employee to a full-time position where it took others over a year to get that permanent status. Hallelujah! That didn’t happened for other employees at the same company. That was the favor of God through faith in His Name and His Word. With God, nothing is impossible to those who believe. What are you believing for? What happened to this man who made a foreign land his home was impossible not for someone who does not believe or trust in Yahweh. You will have what you are believing for if you are believing according to the Word, and you are believing in faith. That is why you’ve got to know the Word. If you know your Bible, then you can know what you can believe for, and attain it. This was not the first time to see Jesus talking about the impossible. In the Old Testament, when you read “The Angel of The Lord” most scholars interpret this as being King Jesus, not just any angel. In Genesis 18:14 the Angel of the Lord spoke to Abraham telling him about having kids even though he and his wife were already advanced in years. He said, |
| 14 | Is anything too hard for the Lord? NKJV God spoke through Jeremiah as well saying in Jeremiah 32:17, |
| 17 | 'Ah, Lord God! Behold, You have made the heavens and the earth by Your great power and outstretched arm. There is nothing too hard for You...’ NKJV The angel told Mary that she was pregnant with the Messiah and her cousin Elizabeth was going to have a child with her older husband as well. Mary was very young (tradition says 12 years old) and had not had sexual relations with any man and marveled at the goodness of God and the miracle working through her. The angel said in Luke 1:35, |
| 35 | For with God nothing will be impossible." NKJV You see, there is great power if you believe, and no power if you do not believe. Tap into God’s power. Ephesians 1:19 says, |
| 19 | and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power NKJV There is great power to us who believe. Nothing is impossible when you pray according to the Word. Again we ask, what are you believing for? Today’s Reading- |
Proverbs 13 | |
| Annual Bible Reading Plan at www.vwc.jp | |
Dec2
Battles & Pursuits
2 Tim 2:22-23 | |
| 22 | Flee also youthful lusts; but pursue righteousness, faith, love, peace with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart. 23 But avoid foolish and ignorant disputes, knowing that they generate strife. NKJV He was a captain in the United States Marine corps who are known for being tough. But this was no regular officer in the military, he had also graduated from one of the best military schools in the world in Annapolis Maryland, the US Naval Academy. It was not just anyone who was admitted to this school, it was the top students of the nation who had passed difficult tests, been interviewed, and proven themselves as contributors to their areas. When talking about the various internal relationships in business and the strife associated this retired marine captain had one bit of wisdom, “Choose your battles carefully.” What does that mean? In life it is very easy to get into strife and debates. One American living abroad commented on his country, “I think America is a great nation with a lot of good things. The one characteristic I don’t like about the country is everyone is always trying to convince you to think like them or come to their side.” Not just in the United States, but actually everywhere in the free world you go to has people who want to argue or debate with you. 2 Timothy 2:23 tells us to avoid foolish debates. Don’t be afraid to tell people about Jesus, but as you learn to “read” people (discern what they are thinking) you will be able to tell if someone really is open to knowing Him or just trying to start a debate. You want to choose your battles carefully. Choose the way you spent you time thoughtfully. Some discussions are just a waste of time. Others are an opportunity to introduce people to the fact that without Jesus the Messiah they are lost. Just because someone talks to you doesn’t mean that you have engage a discussion. Furthermore, we have to realize that when we are dealing with people sometimes we need to jump to action. Other times we need to let things go. Proverbs is full of wisdom about choosing your battles, acting in wisdom, and making right choices. For example, Proverbs 14:29 says |
| 29 | He who is slow to wrath has great understanding, But he who is impulsive exalts folly. NKJV So what exactly is choosing your battles? In conflict, war is the term for the overall aggression or conflict between two or more groups. Within the war there are usually multiple smaller scale conflicts which most people to refer battles. Just because you lose a battle doesn’t necessarily mean you lost the war. Concurrently, if you know Jesus and are walking by faith, you can win everything because we are not just conquerors, we are more than conquerors. We have His victory. |
Romans 8:37 | |
| 37 | Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. NKJV Therefore, avoid foolish and ignorant disputes. Sometimes you just have to choose to be quiet. However that does not mean that you are not praying, nor does it mean that you are weak. Other times you need to speak up. On a airplane trip to the US, I recently had to tell a mainland Chinese girl and her brother not to talk over me in the airplane by offering to let her out into the jet’s aisle so they could chat. I acted in love, but I made it clear flailing your hands in front of someone’s face who is sitting in a crowded airplane seat is not considerate of others space. However, 2 Timothy is written by Paul to Timothy. The focus is between believers. Believers should avoid fighting about silly things. We are not to be distracted from preaching the Gospel and 2 Timothy 2:22 tells us what to pursue. |
| 22 | ...pursue righteousness, faith, love, peace with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart. NKJV Pursue faith, love, and peace with who? Those who call on Jesus with a pure heart. That’s people like us who love Jesus with all we’ve got. You got faith, love, and peace? Well it is now time to get around others like you. Get in God’s house this Sunday and whenever you can during the week. Be hungry for Him and His ways and you will never be disappointed. Today’s Reading- |
Proverbs 14 | |
| Annual Bible Reading Plan at www.vwc.jp | |
Dec3
Write, Execute, And Watch!
Habakuk 2:2-3 | |
| 2 | Then the Lord answered me and said: "Write the vision And make it plain on tablets, That he may run who reads it. |
| 3 | For the vision is yet for an appointed time; But at the end it will speak, and it will not lie. Though it tarries, wait for it; Because it will surely come, It will not tarry. NKJV No vision, no victory. Sounds like a harsh statement, but there is a lot of truth to it. As believers we are not to aimlessly wander around. We are to have goals and objectives. One Tokyo estate agent is successful for a reason. As he begins working towards making the sales target for the year, this sales representative usually sets a goal for what he wants to achieve that year. He prints out that goal, punches holes in the paper, and carries the sheet around in his daily planner. It is always with him just as we are told to treasure the Word of God and keep it with us. Although this businessman doesn’t know Jesus yet, he certainly has one good Biblical principle. If you want to go somewhere you have to have a plan, a vision. This is not just mapping your course to find your friend’s house for a weekend trip (which is short term). It is also about planning where you want to go. Habakuk shows us what God has to say about it. We are to write down our vision. We have to “get the picture” which is seeing ourselves achieving our goals by daily doing things that make us closer to our goals. The real estate guy not only carries around that write up, we have seen him carry a picture of the car or other equipment he is working towards buying through his sales. It is the same for those who want to start your own business. You first start by preparing to do that business; learning the trade, servicing customers, studying the principles of accounting and taxation, and doing the other things related to your business. So many people say, “I’m going to start a business”, and establish a company just to close it years, or in most cases months later. Most new companies don’t make it. They tend to go out of business for various reasons. They may have a vision but they may not have had a plan for attaining that vision. Abraham is the father of our faith. He believed God and that was attributed to him as righteousness. He achieved amazing things because he trusted Yahweh. When we read his testimony we forget that it did take time to get to where he got. Hebrews 6:15 says, |
| 15 | And so, after he had patiently endured, he obtained the promise. NKJV A venture capitalist (a professional who invests into new or upcoming companies) recently said something like (our summary), “It is ideas that make the entrepreneur, it is about the execution of those ideas”. Many people have ideas, but the guys that put those ideas to work are the ones who are successful. It is the same with our faith father Abraham. He obtained the promise, his vision, because he fulfilled the plan by living towards becoming the father of many nations every day of his life. He had a goal. Do you know where are you going? Have you got goals set that take you towards your vision in life? You can start by doing this. 1) Set the vision for you want to accomplish this year. The vision should relate to what you want to do in life if it is long term. 1) Write down the things you need to do to attain that vision. 1) Break those goals down into quarters (Four 3 month blocks of time a year) and allocate what you need to do by when this year or for how many years it take to reach the vision. If you’ve got a plan (vision) you can work towards attaining it. However, with no plans you go no where. Follow that Biblical advice to write down that plan, and watch how God makes them come to pass based on your consistency and desire to honor Him. Today’s Reading- |
Proverbs 15 | |
| Annual Bible Reading Plan at www.vwc.jp | |
Dec4
Rolling On
Proverbs 16:3 | |
| 3 | Commit your works to the Lord, And your thoughts will be established. NKJV With the Dark Ages Mentality (DAM), people condemn themselves to erroneous thinking that whatever happens to them is God’s will. That is not how it works. If whatever happens to people is God’s will, then how dare the Lord Jesus to heal the sick, raise the dead, and to tell the storms to cease. With confused people around us saying they are Christians, we have to work even more to keep up our relationship with Father. At the church we attending during middle school, one guest speaker said, “If you find yourself far from God, then guess who moved? It wasn’t God.” We are the ones who have to maintain our relationship with the Lord. We need to meditate, study, and pray His Word a little, or even better yet, a lot each day. If we are praying we can know that whatever happens to us, God is going to use for the good if we are praying (Romans 8:26-28) His Word, and walking by the Holy Spirit. But we tend to want to hold on to things. We have to learn how to commit things to God in prayer, speak in faith expecting that answer to that prayer, and just roll it on to Him. Proverbs 16:3 is a powerful verse we must grasp and use repeatedly as all people tend to worry or be anxious when we don’t see instant results. That word “commit” here is the Hebrew word galal (pronounced gah-lahl). Galal can also be translated to roll, to roll away, to remove. In Joshua 5:9, the reproach of Egypt is rolled off from Israel. In Genesis 29:3, galal illustrates the rolling of a stone from a well for water’s mouth. What that means to us when we look back at Proverbs 16:3 is that we are to roll our works over on God once we’ve prayed about it. Psalms 37:5 says, |
| 5 | Commit your way to the Lord, Trust also in Him, And He shall bring it to pass. NKJV If you roll your daily issues on God, He is going to make it happen. If you roll your concerns on God, you are going to know how to think and not get flustered. Another promise if you roll your everything on God is in Philippians 4:6-7 which 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 What does that mean? The peace that passes all understanding will come when you roll your thoughts, your work, your concerns, your cares and the deepest desires on Him. No matter what is happening, you will know that you are coming to the end of the tunnel. The light is going to break forth. When I started my first business, it was very scary. Every entrepreneur experiences it. You have no income. While your friends are collecting a salary every month, you are hoping that the money you are spending to fire up your business will begin to come back in profits. While others are enjoying their weekends off and just working or playing around the house, you have to follow up with the work you couldn’t complete during the week. It is very easy to get nervous about paying the office leases, the communications, transportation, and other costs. However you have to roll everything on your Master Yahweh and trust Him. Then because you know you have made wise decisions, you just talk as it is covered. You can talk big with your customers because you know God is going to do big things. You ready to roll on to the bigger things that God has planned for you? Learn to blow off those who do not speak in faith. Practice godliness and spend time with the Father and in His Word. Commit everything you are doing to Him before you do it, then you will really prosper as He has promised He will establish your plans. Our God is awesome! We’re rolling on. Today’s Reading- |
Proverbs 23 | |
| Annual Bible Reading Plan at www.vwc.jp | |
Dec5
Will He Find Faith In You?
Luke 18:8 | |
| 8 | I tell you that He will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will He really find faith on the earth?" NKJV Several years ago, I decided to go through my Bible with highlighter pens and mark scriptures in the same colors that had the same theme. It was a great Bible study. I marked all scriptures on salvation in yellow, prosperity got green, healing got orange, divine protection another color... altogether there were 7 themes that I marked. For faith I picked blue. One of the things I discovered when I began marking up my Bible with the scriptures on faith was there is tons of blue. We know without faith it is impossible to please God (Hebrews 11:6), but going through and marking everything on faith showed me how important faith actually is in our daily lives. The Lord Jesus asked when He comes back to the earth, if He would find faith on the earth in Luke 18:8. Well, is Jesus God going to find faith on the earth? The only ones who can answer that question is you and me. Clearly faith is important with God. If you have faith, you can overcome any situation. You can jump over spiritual obstacles that are put in your path... in many cases you just walk through things that didn’t even know that it was a problem until after you got through it by God’s power, according to your faith. A dear friend’s wife was pregnant and getting close to delivery for that child. The doctors were suggesting that she have a surgery as the child had not turned around in the womb to be ready for birth. This believer decided he would not allow his wife to be cut by the physicians because he knew that the time for his wife to recover would be longer. Every time the doctor would say something against natural birth, he would say, “My God is greater and will take care of us. We will birth naturally”. That was his faith confession. A few days later his child was born, they had a normal birth with no surgical procedures or cutting. He later testified of the goodness of God in one of our church services. That man didn’t listen to human opinions because they knew God was greater and they had that assurance by their faith. Hallelujah! Jesus is coming back soon. Will He find faith on the earth? You bet if you and I are using it! If we know His Word and are standing on His promises, we can be believing God and see our prayers come to pass. By faith you can receive the promises of God. Hebrews 11:17 says, |
| 17 | By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises offered up his only begotten son, NKJV Abraham received because He acted in faith... repeatedly. When He offered up Isaac that was the ultimate test. I think he knew God will provide and followed through to the last minute. God provided and suddenly there was an animal for the sacrifice. There are thousands of examples of people who acted in faith and received. Hebrews 11:33-35 talks about some of the things people did by faith saying, |
| 33 | who through faith subdued kingdoms, worked righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, 34 quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, became valiant in battle, turned to flight the armies of the aliens. 35 Women received their dead raised to life again. NKJV These were past generations and just a few things that happened by faith. Now it’s our turn to continue in faith it show it to our generation and the next. King Jesus will find faith on the earth because we are acting and passing those faith victories to the next generation. Show Him your faith today but believing and not waving at His promises. Hallelujah! Today’s Reading- |
Proverbs 24 | |
| 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.
