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Devotions


Strength for the Journey — Daily Devotion

More Love Than You Can Know – January 22, 2025 22 January 2025, 12:30 am

And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge.
Ephesians 3:17-19

More Love Than You Can Know

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Daily Devotion – January 22, 2025

Devotion based on Ephesians 3:17-19

See series: Devotions

Ten-year-old Aiden loved everything about the ocean, as anyone who met him would know.

“Did you know that the earth’s oceans are just one huge body of water covering seventy-one percent of our planet?” Aiden would ask out of nowhere. “That’s one hundred thirty-nine million square miles!”

“My favorite is the Pacific Ocean. It’s massively huge! The biggest thing on the planet—bigger than all the continents put together! And it’s incredibly deep. The average is maybe twelve thousand feet, but there’s this place called the Mariana Trench, and the guy who made the Titanic movie went down there in a submersible and made videos, and it was seven miles down! It’s so cool!”

If you let him, Aiden could talk for hours about his passion. But here’s the thing: Aiden’s family lived far from the coast, and he had never visited the ocean in person. He never experienced its vastness or heard its waves. Instead, he soaked up every book and video from the library that would reveal more details about his favorite subject.

The apostle Paul was just as passionate in the way he talked about Jesus Christ. He wanted others to share his love and to discover what a wonderful Savior we have in Jesus. Unlike Aiden and the ocean, though, Paul did personally encounter Jesus. He knew his love firsthand. Previously, Paul had been violently persecuting Christians, dragging them to prison. But Jesus had mercy on him, forgave him, and called him to proclaim his saving grace to the world.

The love that Christ has for you is more than you can ever fully know. You can spend a lifetime exploring its heights and depths and never reach its limits. But it is worth the investment of your time. Join with the rest of God’s people who share this passion in learning what it means to be loved by him.

Prayer:
Dear Lord Jesus, I have only scratched the surface of learning about your love. Lead me deeper into your word and promises so that I may know you better. Amen.

Daily Devotions is brought to you by WELS.
All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. ™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide.

Family Devotion

Funny Names, Faithful God – January 22, 2025 22 January 2025, 4:00 am

For Zion’s sake I will not keep silent, for Jerusalem’s sake I will not remain quiet, till her vindication shines out like the dawn, her salvation like a blazing torch. The nations will see your vindication, and all kings your glory; you will be called by a new name that the mouth of the Lord will bestow. You will be a crown of splendor in the Lord’s hand, a royal diadem in the hand of your God. No longer will they call you Deserted, or name your land Desolate. But you will be called Hephzibah, and your land Beulah; for the Lord will take delight in you, and your land will be married. As a young man marries a young woman, so will your Builder marry you; as a bridegroom rejoices over his bride, so will your God rejoice over you.
Isaiah 62:1-5

Funny Names, Faithful God

Family Devotion – January 22, 2025

Devotion based on Isaiah 62:1-5

See series: Devotions

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Which of the following names do you think are towns in Michigan:
New Mexico
Truth or Consequences
Kalamazoo

Funny sounding as they may be, all of them are names of towns in Michigan. You may know someone with a different—maybe even funny-sounding name. If so, you have probably wondered what that name means.

Today’s Bible reading has two funny-sounding names. They are Hephzibah and Beulah. They sound funny to us because they are Hebrew names. Hephzibah is a name for the Jewish people, God’s chosen nation, and it probably makes you wonder, “What does Hephzibah even mean?” Beulah is a name for the land that Israel lived in, and it probably makes you wonder, “How did it get to be called that?”

God himself gave these names to his people and their land. Hephzibah means, “My delight is in her.” Buelah means, “married.” God gave these names to reflect his love for his people. Even though Israel kept on disobeying him and not trusting in him, God promised to remain faithful to Israel because he loved them.

Think about the way that you name your pets or how you named your stuffed animals when you were younger. Naming a pet or a stuffed animal was your way of establishing a relationship with that pet or that stuffed animal because you cared about it.

Now, what kind of relationship could sinners like you and I expect to have with the holy, eternal God? We sinners might expect to be his slaves because he is the King. We might hope to be friends with God. But God exceeds our expectations! We are more than servants of the King. We are more than just friends of the true God. God has made us his family! Or, as Isaiah put it, God has married himself to us because that’s how much God loves us!

So, you could go around calling yourself “Hephzibah.” Then, when people ask you about that funny-sounding name, you could tell them, “It’s because God delights in me.” You could ask your pastor to name your church property “Buelah” because God promises to stay faithful to his church, like a husband stays faithful to his wife.

You could make a case for those names, but maybe it’s just easier for you to live your life trusting this. You have the name “Christian.” And because of Jesus Christ, God rejoices over you and delights in you.

Closing Prayer:

Gracious God, because you delight in us, make us delight in you and your word. Make our words and actions shine in our lives that others may see your glory and trust in your salvation. Amen.

The questions below are to help families discuss this devotion. The questions are divided by age group as suggestions, but anyone could reflect on any of the questions as they desire.

Questions for Younger Children

  • God compares the way that he feels about you to the way that people feel at a wedding. How do people feel at a wedding?
  • God promises to save his people. What does he save us from?

Questions for Elementary Age Children

  • Why did God care so much about Jerusalem?
  • How does it make you feel to know that God says you are like a prized possession in his hand?

Questions for Middle School and Above

  • God said that he was giving a new name to the land of Israel. Can you think of other people in the Bible who received new names from God?
  • God compares his relationship with his believers to a marriage. People get married because they love each other. What is the proof that God loves you?

 

Family Devotions are brought to you by WELS Discipleship.
All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide.