Words of Hope Daily Devotional
START EVERY DAY WITH HOPE
Get the Words of Hope Devotional and get daily encouragement to love God, read His Word, and meet with Him in prayer. Available in print and email.
START EVERY DAY WITH HOPE
Get the Words of Hope Devotional and get daily encouragement to love God, read His Word, and meet with Him in prayer. Available in print and email.
THE DEVOTIONAL IS AVAILABLE IN YOUR EMAIL AND IN PRINT.
The Words of Hope Devotional is a non-profit, donor-supported publication whose goal is to encourage readers to grow in faith through the practice of daily Bible reading and prayer.
DINNER WITH JESUS
Breakfast on the Beach
Follow Me
Read: Acts 12:1-11
He said to him, “Wrap your cloak around you and follow me.” And he went out and followed him. (vv. 8-9)
This isn’t the first time that Peter was beckoned “Follow me.” The first time came along the shores of the Sea of Galilee while he and his brother Andrew were mending their fishing nets (Mark 1:17). On that occasion the one calling to them was Jesus himself. This time it is an angel who calls to Peter. This story hints at an extraordinarily important reality in the Christian life: followership. It takes courage and trust to follow. And believers in Jesus like you and me are called to followership.
The Christian life is one of continual following. I remember like it was yesterday standing in the hot sands of Daytona Beach, Florida, as a young college student on spring break. I had come simply to join the crowds of young people having fun. The Lord had other plans for me.
I had been at an all-night college beach party and found myself the next morning wandering and wondering, Is this all there is? There a few hundred yards away I saw some kids plugging in guitars and beginning to sing. But it wasn’t a concert. It was a chapter of Campus Crusade for Christ (now called Cru) getting ready for a day of beach evangelism. A young student stood up and started preaching from 2 Corinthians 5:17: “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.” I followed that day and have been following ever since.
As you pray, ask Jesus to teach you to follow.
Dr. Timothy Brown is the Henry Bast Professor of Preaching and President Emeritus at Western Theological Seminary where he served from 1995-2021. Tim continues to actively coach and encourage former students and pastors who seek help in their preaching life and he has become a certified public school substitute teacher so that he can continue investing in the lives of young people. He is married to Nancy and together they have three children and ten grandchildren.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Rev. First Last
David Bast is a writer and pastor who served for 23 years as the President and Broadcast Minister for Words of Hope. In his more than 40 years of devotional writing and preaching, he has been encouraging believers around the world to be shaped by God and his Word.
Prior to his ministry and work at Words of Hope, Dave served as a pastor for 18 years in congregations in the Reformed Church in America. A graduate of Hope College and Western Theological Seminary, he is the author of nine devotional books and Bible studies, including Why Doesn’t God Act More Like God, Christ in the Psalms, and A Gospel for the World.
Dave and his wife, Betty Jo, have four children and eight grandchildren. Dave enjoys reading, growing tomatoes, and avidly follows the Detroit Tigers.
Called Christians
Read: Acts 11:19-29 In Antioch the disciples were first called Christians. (v. 26) It’s astounding to me that there was an actual moment in time with precise geographical coordinates when the followers of Jesus were first called Christians. Christian literally
An Encourager
Read: Acts 11:19-26 [Barnabas] was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and of faith. (v. 24) Apart from Jesus, who in the Bible would you most like to emulate? There are so many to choose from: Abraham’s willing
No Partiality
Read: Acts 10:1-48 Truly I understand that God shows no partiality, but in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him. (vv. 34-35) Today’s passage takes us precisely to the epicenter of a
Once Lost, Now Found
Read: Acts 9:1-19 Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus who appeared to you on the road by which you came has sent me so that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit. (v. 17) “Amazing grace
Jesus in the Old Testament
Read: Acts 8:26-40 Beginning with this Scripture he told him the good news about Jesus. (v. 35) The traveler from Ethiopia is a somewhat mysterious figure. Drawn to worship at the temple in Jerusalem, he was in a position of
Stephen: Telling the Truth
Read: Acts 7 You stiff-necked people, uncircumcised in heart and ears, you always resist the Holy Spirit. As your fathers did, so do you. (v. 51) I once heard Eugene Peterson say to a group of pastors, “When people come