Solid Joys Daily Devotional

Jesus came that we might have Life, now and forever. Make your Now the richer and deeper this Christmas by drinking at the fountain of Forever. It is so near.

The meaning of Christmas is that God takes salvation, puts it in your heart, and seals you as his child.

Our High Priest is seated at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven. No Old Testament priest could ever say that.

Jesus came to orient all our attention on himself, ministering for us first on Calvary as our final Sacrifice and then in heaven as our final Priest.

In dying, Christ de-fanged the devil. How? By covering all our sin. This means that Satan has no legitimate grounds to accuse us before God.

Giving gifts to Christ is like fasting — going without something to show that Christ is more valuable than what you are going without.

Let this Christmas be the time when you ponder what it means — what it costs — to worship and follow Jesus, the Messiah.

God influenced the stars in the sky to get a little handful of foreign magi to Bethlehem so that they would worship his Son.

Christmas proves how Jesus is Messiah — a King, and Promise-Fulfiller — for all the nations, not just Israel.

The key that unlocks the treasure chest of God’s peace is faith in the promises of God.

God could have seen to it that Jesus have a room at his birth. But that would have been a detour off the Calvary road.

Do not think, because you experience adversity, that the hand of the Lord is shortened.

For the mind of faith, a promised act of God is as good as done.

The only people whose soul can truly magnify the Lord are people like Elizabeth and Mary. So, this Advent, imitate their lowliness and cheerful humility.

This Advent, bend the efforts of your imagination to make the wonder of Jesus’s arrival visible for your children.

No matter how dirty with sin you are, through Christ you can see the light of God’s glory and believe.

Our greatest problem is alienation from God. The only solution is the blood of Christ.

At the root of all ingratitude is the love of one’s own greatness. But genuine gratitude glorifies God because it admits that we need him.

The whole duty of the Christian can be summed up in this: feel, think, and act in a way that will make God look as great as he really is.

Our salvation is as secure as Christ’s priesthood is indestructible. His deity and resurrection from the dead secure his indestructible priesthood for us.

A life that gives glory to God for his grace and a life of deepest gladness are the same life. And what makes them one is thankfulness.

When Christ died for us, he did not buy the freedom from having to hold fast, but the enabling power to hold fast.

It is as unlikely that God will break his word of promise to bless us as it is that he will despise himself.

Getting ready to feast on all God’s word is not first an intellectual challenge; it is first a moral challenge.

A thankful spirit is others-exalting and glad-hearted. Therefore, pray for a great awakening of humble gratitude.

Death is gain because Christians will then be perfect, pain-free, rested, at home, and with Christ.

Because we have a Great High Priest, the throne of God is a throne of grace.

The word of God is our only hope. It is sharp, living, and active. Therefore, be of good cheer in your battle to believe.

Don’t be a fatalist. Be a Christian. Change is possible. God is alive. Christ is risen. The promises are true.

Take up the Bible, ask the Holy Spirit for help, lay the promises up in your heart, and fight the good fight — to live by faith in future grace.

When you feel discouraged and anxious, cling to God’s promises to be with you and uphold you.

When you marvel at the wonders of creation, do not marvel at the processes of chance but at the creativity of God.

The Bible’s warnings are written that you might believe and endure, and have life.

Satan cannot destroy us. In fact, God turns all his attacks finally against him and for us.

Becoming a Christian and being a Christian happen in the same way: by hoping in Jesus.

When anxiety blurs our vision of God’s glory, it does not mean that we are faithless. It means our faith is being attacked.

One day, we will see God’s glory, and marvel at it in such a way that he will be glorified in us for all the world to see.

It is possible to pursue God without glorifying God. If we want our quest to honor God, we must pursue him for the joy of fellowship with him.

There are precious experiences of the love of God that require that we fight pride, seek humility, and cherish the nearness of God.

Loving acts are genuine to the degree that they are not done begrudgingly.

Being a Christian is a very serious business, though not a sour business. We are simply blood-earnest about being happy in our great salvation.

What you thought was a mere struggle with an anxious disposition might really be a far deeper struggle with trusting God.

It is truer in suffering than anywhere else that God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in him.

Whether we focus on the riches of the reward or the refining effects of suffering, God’s purpose is that our joy in suffering be sustained.

We exhibit the sufferings of Christ when we ourselves suffer for those we are trying to win.

God designs suffering not only as a way to wean Christians off of self and onto grace, but also as a way to spotlight that grace and make it shine.

Be satisfied in Jesus so that you do not get lured downstream by deceitful desires.

Suffering proves our allegiance to Christ’s goodness and reveals his worth as an all-sufficient prize.

Jesus himself makes up for every sacrifice he will ever call us to make. It is worth it to lose it all in order to gain Christ.

God has a people in every people group. He will call them through the gospel with Creator power. And they will believe!