Daily Devotions from Firmly Rooted (archive of 975 devotions). Browse by book, series, or season, or search below.
“’But what about you?’ he asked. ‘Who do you say I am?’ Simon Peter answered, ‘You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.’ Jesus replied, ‘Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by man, but by my Father in heaven. And I tell you that you…
“For the kingdom of heaven is like a master of a house who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard. After agreeing with the laborers for a denarius a day, he sent them into his vineyard.” — Matthew 20:1&2 As we look at the kingdom of heaven today, we look…
“Then Jesus said to his disciples, ‘I tell you the truth, it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.’ When the…
“Jesus said, ‘Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.’” — Matthew 19:14 (NIV84) When we think of religious beliefs and organizations, we tend to view them with a worldly kingdom perspective. The disciples once asked Jesus about what makes one great…
“Therefore, the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants.” — Matthew 18:23 (NIV84) Now, this is the side of God we all fear. The side that wants an accounting. Who of us could stand unscathed if God were to call us to an accounting right now? Ugh! Exactly!…
“At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, ‘Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?’ He called a little child and had him stand among them. And he said: ‘I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore,…
“I tell you the truth, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.” — Matthew 16:28 (NIV84) Truth be told, for nearly 3 years, they had seen the Son of Man doing kingdom-of-heaven work. But some were going to be blessed to see Jesus…
“Once again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was let down into the lake and caught all kinds of fish. When it was full, the fishermen pulled it up on the shore. Then they sat down and collected the good fish in baskets, but threw the bad away. This is how it…
“The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field. Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls. When he found one of great value,…
“He told them still another parable: ‘The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed into a large amount of flour until it worked all through the dough.’” — Matthew 13:33 (NIV84) This parable always gives me the sense of being involved in a covert operation. When I was a kid I…