April 26

Daily Devotional

Be About Your Father’s Business Until He Calls You Home:

The exhortation, “Be about your Father’s Business until He calls you Home,” captures the essence of Christian discipleship. It echoes the words of the young Jesus in the Temple. When His earthly parents searched for Him, Jesus replied, “But why did you need to search?” he asked. “Didn’t you realize that I would be here at the Temple, in my Father’s House?” (Luke 2:49 TLB). From an early age, Jesus prioritized His heavenly Father’s mission over all else.

This statement calls believers to a life of purposeful obedience and stewardship. Jesus modeled complete dedication to the Father’s will throughout His ministry. Believers are likewise commanded to align their lives with God’s priorities. Matthew 6:33 TLB instructs, “…and he will give them to you if you give him first place in your life and live as he wants you to.” Prioritizing God’s kingdom ensures that earthly needs are met as we focus on eternal matters.

Furthermore, every aspect of daily life should reflect this commitment. Colossians 3:23 TLB urges, “Work hard and cheerfully at all you do, just as though you were working for the Lord and not merely for your masters.” Whether in vocation, family, or ministry, our labors are to be performed heartily as service to God. This transforms mundane tasks into sacred service within the Father’s business—the advancement of His kingdom, the making of disciples, and acts of love and justice.

Such dedication demands perseverance until life’s end. The Apostle Paul exemplified this, declaring near the close of his life, “I have fought long and hard for my Lord, and through it all I have kept true to him. And now the time has come for me to stop fighting and rest” (2 Timothy 4:7 TLB). He finished his race faithfully.

Ultimately, death is not an end but a homecoming! “And we are not afraid but are quite content to die, for then we will be at home with the Lord” (2 Corinthians 5:8 TLB). When God calls us home, we enter His presence, having been faithful stewards.

In conclusion, living “about our Father’s Business” requires daily surrender, diligent labor, and eternal perspective. May we emulate Christ and Paul, remaining steadfast until that glorious day He calls us Home.!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 26 in Proverbs for today: (APR 26 (MT) (ESV)

26 Like snow in summer or rain in harvest,
    so honor is not fitting for a fool.
²Like a sparrow in its flitting, like a swallow in its flying,
    a curse that is causeless does not alight.
³A whip for the horse, a bridle for the donkey,
    and a rod for the back of fools.
⁴Answer not a fool according to his folly,
    lest you be like him yourself.
⁵Answer a fool according to his folly,
    lest he be wise in his own eyes.
⁶Whoever sends a message by the hand of a fool
    cuts off his own feet and drinks violence.
⁷Like a lame man’s legs, which hang useless,
    is a proverb in the mouth of fools.
⁸Like one who binds the stone in the sling
    is one who gives honor to a fool.
⁹Like a thorn that goes up into the hand of a drunkard
    is a proverb in the mouth of fools.
¹⁰Like an archer who wounds everyone
    is one who hires a passing fool or drunkard.^[a]
¹¹Like a dog that returns to his vomit
    is a fool who repeats his folly.
¹²Do you see a man who is wise in his own eyes?
    There is more hope for a fool than for him.
¹³The sluggard says, “There is a lion in the road!
    There is a lion in the streets!”
¹⁴As a door turns on its hinges,
    so does a sluggard on his bed.
¹⁵The sluggard buries his hand in the dish;
    it wears him out to bring it back to his mouth.
¹⁶The sluggard is wiser in his own eyes
    than seven men who can answer sensibly.
¹⁷Whoever meddles in a quarrel not his own
    is like one who takes a passing dog by the ears.
¹⁸Like a madman who throws firebrands, arrows, and death
¹⁹is the man who deceives his neighbor
    and says, “I am only joking!”
²⁰For lack of wood the fire goes out,
    and where there is no whisperer, quarreling ceases.
²¹As charcoal to hot embers and wood to fire,
    so is a quarrelsome man for kindling strife.
²²The words of a whisperer are like delicious morsels;
    they go down into the inner parts of the body.
²³Like the glaze^[b] covering an earthen vessel
    are fervent lips with an evil heart.
²⁴Whoever hates disguises himself with his lips
    and harbors deceit in his heart;
²⁵when he speaks graciously, believe him not,
    for there are seven abominations in his heart;
²⁶though his hatred be covered with deception,
    his wickedness will be exposed in the assembly.
²⁷Whoever digs a pit will fall into it,
    and a stone will come back on him who starts it rolling.
²⁸A lying tongue hates its victims,
    and a flattering mouth works ruin.

Footnotes

Proverbs 26:10 Or hires a fool or passersby
Proverbs 26:23 By revocalization; Hebrew silver of dross

CHAPTER 144 IN PSALMS for today: (APR 26 (TLZ) (ESV)

144 Blessed be the Lord, my rock,
    who trains my hands for war,
    and my fingers for battle;
²he is my steadfast love and my fortress,
    my stronghold and my deliverer,
my shield and he in whom I take refuge,
    who subdues peoples^[a] under me.

³O Lord, what is man that you regard him,
or the son of man that you think of him?
⁴Man is like a breath;
his days are like a passing shadow.

⁵Bow your heavens, O Lord, and come down!
    Touch the mountains so that they smoke!
⁶Flash forth the lightning and scatter them;
    send out your arrows and rout them!
⁷Stretch out your hand from on high;
    rescue me and deliver me from the many waters,
    from the hand of foreigners,
⁸whose mouths speak lies
    and whose right hand is a right hand of falsehood.

⁹I will sing a new song to you, O God;
    upon a ten-stringed harp I will play to you,
¹⁰who gives victory to kings,
    who rescues David his servant from the cruel sword.
¹¹Rescue me and deliver me
    from the hand of foreigners,
whose mouths speak lies
    and whose right hand is a right hand of falsehood.

¹²May our sons in their youth
    be like plants full grown,
our daughters like corner pillars
    cut for the structure of a palace;
¹³may our granaries be full,
    providing all kinds of produce;
may our sheep bring forth thousands
    and ten thousands in our fields;
¹⁴may our cattle be heavy with young,
    suffering no mishap or failure in bearing;^[b]
may there be no cry of distress in our streets!
¹⁵Blessed are the people to whom such blessings fall!
    Blessed are the people whose God is the Lord!

Footnotes

Psalm 144:2 Many Hebrew manuscripts, Dead Sea Scroll, Jerome, Syriac, Aquila; most Hebrew manuscripts subdues my people
Psalm 144:14 Hebrew with no breaking in or going out

Revelation 11 for today: (APR 26 (NN) ESV)

11 Then I was given a measuring rod like a staff, and I was told, “Rise and measure the temple of God and the altar and those who worship there, ²but do not measure the court outside the temple; leave that out, for it is given over to the nations, and they will trample the holy city for forty-two months. ³And I will grant authority to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy for 1,260 days, clothed in sackcloth.”

⁴These are the two olive trees and the two lampstands that stand before the Lord of the earth. ⁵And if anyone would harm them, fire pours from their mouth and consumes their foes. If anyone would harm them, this is how he is doomed to be killed. ⁶They have the power to shut the sky, that no rain may fall during the days of their prophesying, and they have power over the waters to turn them into blood and to strike the earth with every kind of plague, as often as they desire. ⁷And when they have finished their testimony, the beast that rises from the bottomless pit^[a] will make war on them and conquer them and kill them, ⁸and their dead bodies will lie in the street of the great city that symbolically^[b] is called Sodom and Egypt, where their Lord was crucified. ⁹For three and a half days some from the peoples and tribes and languages and nations will gaze at their dead bodies and refuse to let them be placed in a tomb, ¹⁰and those who dwell on the earth will rejoice over them and make merry and exchange presents, because these two prophets had been a torment to those who dwell on the earth. ¹¹But after the three and a half days a breath of life from God entered them, and they stood up on their feet, and great fear fell on those who saw them. ¹²Then they heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them, “Come up here!” And they went up to heaven in a cloud, and their enemies watched them. ¹³And at that hour there was a great earthquake, and a tenth of the city fell. Seven thousand people were killed in the earthquake, and the rest were terrified and gave glory to the God of heaven.

¹⁴The second woe has passed; behold, the third woe is soon to come.

The Seventh Trumpet

¹⁵Then the seventh angel blew his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven, saying, “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever.” ¹⁶And the twenty-four elders who sit on their thrones before God fell on their faces and worshiped God, ¹⁷saying,

“We give thanks to you, Lord God Almighty,
    who is and who was,
for you have taken your great power
    and begun to reign.
¹⁸The nations raged,
    but your wrath came,
    and the time for the dead to be judged,
and for rewarding your servants, the prophets and saints,
    and those who fear your name,
    both small and great,
and for destroying the destroyers of the earth.”

¹⁹Then God’s temple in heaven was opened, and the ark of his covenant was seen within his temple. There were flashes of lightning, rumblings,^[c] peals of thunder, an earthquake, and heavy hail.

Footnotes

Revelation 11:7 Or the abyss
Revelation 11:8 Greek spiritually
Revelation 11:19 Or voices, or sounds

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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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