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August 18, 2026

Daily Devotional

Practical Atheism

Practical atheism is not the bold denial of God’s existence by the open unbeliever.

It is far more subtle and far more common. It is the quiet decision to live each day as though the living God does not matter. A man may recite the creed, sing the hymns, and even claim the name of Christ, yet organize his money, his time, his relationships, and his ambitions without a single serious reference to the Lord who bought him. That is practical atheism.

The Living Bible puts the heart of the matter plainly: “The fool says in his heart, ‘There is no God’” (Psalm 14:1). Notice it is said in his heart, not always with his lips. The practical atheist may never utter the words; he simply lives them. He prays only when crisis strikes. He opens the Bible only when convenience allows. He treats Sunday as optional and Monday through Saturday as his own private kingdom. God’s will is consulted last, if at all. In practice, self sits on the throne.

Scripture refuses to let such living pass for faith. Titus 1:16 declares of certain people, “They claim they know God, but by their actions they deny him.” James is equally direct: faith without corresponding deeds is dead (James 2:17). Belief that never touches the checkbook, the calendar, the tongue, or the secret thought life is not biblical faith—it is religious theater.

The tragedy of practical atheism is that it robs a person of the very life Jesus came to give. Jesus said, “I am the Vine; you are the branches. Whoever lives in Me and I in him shall produce a large crop of fruit. For apart from Me you can’t do a thing” (John 15:5, TLB). Practical atheism insists on living “apart from Me.” The result is barrenness, anxiety, and a hollow form of godliness that lacks power.
The cure is not louder profession but daily surrender. It is waking each morning and deliberately placing the day under the lordship of Christ. It is asking, before decisions large and small, “What would please the One who loved me and gave Himself for me?” Genuine faith is not merely intellectual assent; it is a living trust that rearranges everything.

May the Lord deliver us from the quiet unbelief that says with the lips, “I believe,” while the life declares, “I will live as though You are not there.” Let us instead walk by faith, and not by the practical denial that empties the soul.

Amen!

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If you have questions, please call the 24-Hour BGEA Prayer Line at:

(855) 255-PRAY.

CONTINUE:

Let us Praise Him Daily!

A good way to learn to Praise God is to memorize the first 6 Verses of Psalms 148:

1 Praise the Lord, O heavens! Praise Him from the skies!

²Praise Him, all His angels, all the armies of heaven.

³Praise Him, sun and moon and all you twinkling stars.

⁴Praise Him, skies above. Praise Him, vapors high above the clouds.

⁵Let everything He has made give praise to Him. For He issued His command, and they came into being;

^{6 H}e established them forever and forever. His orders will never be revoked.

PLEASE read the last 6 Chapters of Psalms: 145-150 so that you will learn how to Praise God like David did!

If you don’t want to get your Bible, Here they all are, just click on each Chapter and I will read them to you:

PSALMS 145 PSALMS 146 PSALMS 147 PSALMS148 PSALMS 149 PSALMS 150

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JESUS IS:

THE HEAD OF THE CHURCH,

THE LEADER,

THE ORIGINATOR,

THE LORD & MASTER,

THE SUPREME LEADER,

OUR HOPE,

1ST BORN FROM THE DEAD WITH AN IMMORTAL BODY TO NEVER DIE AGAIN,

THE 1ST FRUITS OF THE RESURRECTION,

HE IS OUR FESTIVAL OF HOPE,

OUR PARDON,

GIVEN 1ST PLACE IN EVERYTHING,

HAS BEEN EXALTED AS SUPREME OVER EVERYTHING,

IS ENOUGH,

THE FULLNESS OF GOD DWELLS IN US THROUGH JESUS,

JESUS HAS BROUGHT US INTO HARMONY WITH GOD,

HE HAS BROKERED A PEACE TREATY BETWEEN GOD & MAN,

YOU WERE BORN ON THE WRONG SIDE, BUT BY ACCEPTING JESUS

YOU ARE ON THE RIGHT SIDE NOW,

YOU ARE BEYOND REPROACH,

JESUS WAS THE SOLUTION BEFORE YOU HAD A SIN PROBLEM,

NEVER GET OVER WHAT JESUS HAS DONE FOR YOU!

NOW:

THE PURPOSE OF THE CHURCH:

TO TEACH US TO LEAD OTHERS TO CHRIST!

AMEN!

(You might want to copy those down and memorize them!)

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DAILY BIBLE READING:

>1. Chapter for the DAY in Proverbs;

>2. PLUS: 1 NEW Chapter from the Old Testament AND

>3. PLUS: 1 NEW Chapter from the New Testament Daily:

Chapter 18 in Proverbs for today: (AUGUST 18 (MT) (ESV)

18 Whoever isolates himself seeks his own desire;
    he breaks out against all sound judgment.
²A fool takes no pleasure in understanding,
    but only in expressing his opinion.
³When wickedness comes, contempt comes also,
    and with dishonor comes disgrace.
⁴The words of a man’s mouth are deep waters;
    the fountain of wisdom is a bubbling brook.
⁵It is not good to be partial to^[a] the wicked
    or to deprive the righteous of justice.
⁶A fool’s lips walk into a fight,
    and his mouth invites a beating.
⁷A fool’s mouth is his ruin,
    and his lips are a snare to his soul.
⁸The words of a whisperer are like delicious morsels;
    they go down into the inner parts of the body.
⁹Whoever is slack in his work
    is a brother to him who destroys.
¹⁰The name of the Lord is a strong tower;
    the righteous man runs into it and is safe.
¹¹A rich man’s wealth is his strong city,
    and like a high wall in his imagination.
¹²Before destruction a man’s heart is haughty,
    but humility comes before honor.
¹³If one gives an answer before he hears,
    it is his folly and shame.
¹⁴A man’s spirit will endure sickness,
    but a crushed spirit who can bear?
¹⁵An intelligent heart acquires knowledge,
    and the ear of the wise seeks knowledge.
¹⁶A man’s gift makes room for him
    and brings him before the great.
¹⁷The one who states his case first seems right,
    until the other comes and examines him.
¹⁸The lot puts an end to quarrels
    and decides between powerful contenders.
¹⁹A brother offended is more unyielding than a strong city,
    and quarreling is like the bars of a castle.
²⁰From the fruit of a man’s mouth his stomach is satisfied;
    he is satisfied by the yield of his lips.
²¹Death and life are in the power of the tongue,
    and those who love it will eat its fruits.
²²He who finds a wife finds a good thing
    and obtains favor from the Lord.
²³The poor use entreaties,
    but the rich answer roughly.
²⁴A man of many companions may come to ruin,
    but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.

Footnotes

Proverbs 18:5 Hebrew to lift the face of

CHAPTER 18 JEREMIAH for today: (AUGUST 18 (LN) (ESV)

18 The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord: ²“Arise, and go down to the potter’s house, and there I will let you hear^[a] my words.” ³So I went down to the potter’s house, and there he was working at his wheel. ⁴And the vessel he was making of clay was spoiled in the potter’s hand, and he reworked it into another vessel, as it seemed good to the potter to do.

⁵Then the word of the Lord came to me: ⁶“O house of Israel, can I not do with you as this potter has done? declares the Lord. Behold, like the clay in the potter’s hand, so are you in my hand, O house of Israel. ⁷If at any time I declare concerning a nation or a kingdom, that I will pluck up and break down and destroy it, ⁸and if that nation, concerning which I have spoken, turns from its evil, I will relent of the disaster that I intended to do to it. ⁹And if at any time I declare concerning a nation or a kingdom that I will build and plant it, ¹⁰and if it does evil in my sight, not listening to my voice, then I will relent of the good that I had intended to do to it. ¹¹Now, therefore, say to the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem: ‘Thus says the Lord, Behold, I am shaping disaster against you and devising a plan against you. Return, every one from his evil way, and amend your ways and your deeds.’

¹²“But they say, ‘That is in vain! We will follow our own plans, and will every one act according to the stubbornness of his evil heart.’

¹³“Therefore thus says the Lord:
Ask among the nations,
    Who has heard the like of this?
The virgin Israel
    has done a very horrible thing.
¹⁴Does the snow of Lebanon leave
    the crags of Sirion?^[b]
Do the mountain waters run dry,^[c]
    the cold flowing streams?
¹⁵But my people have forgotten me;
    they make offerings to false gods;
they made them stumble in their ways,
    in the ancient roads,
and to walk into side roads,
    not the highway,
¹⁶making their land a horror,
    a thing to be hissed at forever.
Everyone who passes by it is horrified
    and shakes his head.
¹⁷Like the east wind I will scatter them
    before the enemy.
I will show them my back, not my face,
    in the day of their calamity.”

¹⁸Then they said, “Come, let us make plots against Jeremiah, for the law shall not perish from the priest, nor counsel from the wise, nor the word from the prophet. Come, let us strike him with the tongue, and let us not pay attention to any of his words.”

¹⁹Hear me, O Lord,
    and listen to the voice of my adversaries.
²⁰Should good be repaid with evil?
    Yet they have dug a pit for my life.
Remember how I stood before you
    to speak good for them,
    to turn away your wrath from them.
²¹Therefore deliver up their children to famine;
    give them over to the power of the sword;
let their wives become childless and widowed.
    May their men meet death by pestilence,
    their youths be struck down by the sword in battle.
²²May a cry be heard from their houses,
    when you bring the plunderer suddenly upon them!
For they have dug a pit to take me
    and laid snares for my feet.
²³Yet you, O Lord, know
    all their plotting to kill me.
Forgive not their iniquity,
    nor blot out their sin from your sight.
Let them be overthrown before you;
    deal with them in the time of your anger.

Footnotes

Jeremiah 18:2 Or will cause you to hear
Jeremiah 18:14 Hebrew of the field
Jeremiah 18:14 Hebrew Are foreign waters plucked up

Revelation 13

for today: (AUGUST 18 (NN) ESV)

13 And I saw a beast rising out of the sea, with ten horns and seven heads, with ten diadems on its horns and blasphemous names on its heads. ²And the beast that I saw was like a leopard; its feet were like a bear’s, and its mouth was like a lion’s mouth. And to it the dragon gave his power and his throne and great authority. ³One of its heads seemed to have a mortal wound, but its mortal wound was healed, and the whole earth marveled as they followed the beast. ⁴And they worshiped the dragon, for he had given his authority to the beast, and they worshiped the beast, saying, “Who is like the beast, and who can fight against it?”

⁵And the beast was given a mouth uttering haughty and blasphemous words, and it was allowed to exercise authority for forty-two months. ⁶It opened its mouth to utter blasphemies against God, blaspheming his name and his dwelling,^[a] that is, those who dwell in heaven. ⁷Also it was allowed to make war on the saints and to conquer them.^[b] And authority was given it over every tribe and people and language and nation, ⁸and all who dwell on earth will worship it, everyone whose name has not been written from the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who was slain. ⁹If anyone has an ear, let him hear:

¹⁰If anyone is to be taken captive,
to captivity he goes;
if anyone is to be slain with the sword,
with the sword must he be slain.

Here is a call for the endurance and faith of the saints.

The Second Beast

¹¹Then I saw another beast rising out of the earth. It had two horns like a lamb and it spoke like a dragon. ¹²It exercises all the authority of the first beast in its presence,^[c] and makes the earth and its inhabitants worship the first beast, whose mortal wound was healed. ¹³It performs great signs, even making fire come down from heaven to earth in front of people, ¹⁴and by the signs that it is allowed to work in the presence of^[d] the beast it deceives those who dwell on earth, telling them to make an image for the beast that was wounded by the sword and yet lived. ¹⁵And it was allowed to give breath to the image of the beast, so that the image of the beast might even speak and might cause those who would not worship the image of the beast to be slain. ¹⁶Also it causes all, both small and great, both rich and poor, both free and slave,^[e] to be marked on the right hand or the forehead, ¹⁷so that no one can buy or sell unless he has the mark, that is, the name of the beast or the number of its name. ¹⁸This calls for wisdom: let the one who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man, and his number is 666.^[f]

Footnotes

Revelation 13:6 Or tabernacle
Revelation 13:7 Some manuscripts omit this sentence
Revelation 13:12 Or on its behalf
Revelation 13:14 Or on behalf of
Revelation 13:16 For the contextual rendering of the Greek word doulos, see Preface
Revelation 13:18 Some manuscripts 616

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Please Remember:

“CHRIST DIED FOR OUR SINS

AND ROSE FROM THE DEAD!”

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The Steps to Salvation:

> Repent: Repentance means that you are turning away from sin to turn to Christ. It does NOT mean that you will be perfect.

> Believe/Receive: Salvation is through Faith in Jesus and by the Grace of God. Believing means putting your Faith in Jesus and receiving forgiveness of sin.

>Walk in the Newness of Life: Jesus died so that we might live. We walk in the Newness of Life being Born Again by His Blood.

Additionally, if you feel you need someone to Pray for you,

please call the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association,

24 Hours/Day, at: 1+855 255 PRAY (This is the same as: 1+855 255 7729).

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GOD THE FATHER IS THE SOVEREIGN KING
AND CREATOR OF THE ENTIRE
UNIVERSE AND BEYOND!

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