This page has various series of Daily Devotions that the Staff and members of Second Baptist have written and shared. These devotions have been for both specific times – Christmas/Advent and a January Bible Study – as well as for general encouragement and hope. 

January Bible Study

On the Subject of Dust

Job [34:14]-15  “If He should determine to do so, if He should gather to Himself His Spirit and His breath, all flesh would perish together, and man would return to dust.”

You may remember that in early July we were encountering a massive Saharan dust storm titled, Godzilla. This devotion was originally written during this time period.

It’s not the Corona virus we should fear. Or the Republicans or Democrats. Or China or Russia. Or global warming.  Or murder hornets.  

We should live our lives in respectful fear of God who could cause all mankind to be extinguished in a single instant should He choose to do so.  We are not afraid of God, but we stand in awe of what He holds back from doing.  We should remind ourselves that every moment of every day and every breath are a result of His good favor toward us.

If everyone did that, it would cause all these other issues to get straightened out as well.

Harriet Bowman



The King Has Come

And Mary said:
“My soul glorifies the Lord
and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
for he has been mindful
of the humble state of his servant.
From now on all generations will call me blessed,
for the Mighty One has done great things for me—
holy is his name.
His mercy extends to those who fear him,
from generation to generation.
He has performed mighty deeds with his arm;
he has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts.
He has brought down rulers from their thrones
but has lifted up the humble.
He has filled the hungry with good things
but has sent the rich away empty.
He has helped his servant Israel,
remembering to be merciful
to Abraham and his descendants forever,
just as he promised our ancestors.”
Luke [1:46]-55

In our reading of the 4 Gospels, especially the synoptic Gospels; Matthew, Mark, and Luke, it can be easy to miss some of the things that are happening in what seems the everyday occurrences in Jesus’ life.

Jesus came to fulfill the promise that God had made to the Israelite nation; before it was a nation, and it was just Jacob and a lot of selfish and conniving sons. Before it was Jacob it was a promise to Isaac and Rebekah and twins that were to be born. Before Isaac and Rebecca it was Abram and Sarai growing old and waiting on a child to be born. On and on we could go and would end up in the Garden with Adam, Eve, and a fleeing serpent.

Mary knew God’s promise and the change it would bring. Beth Moore says it well:

Mary was aware that God had promised her nation a special renown as a servant-ruler to the world. In verses 54 and 55, Mary is obviously aware of the covenant being fulfilled before her eyes. I’m not sure we can comprehend the mind-set of the ancient Hebrews. Their belief system was not just a religion to them-it was life. God was as much a part of their politics as their religious practices.

Jesus is King. The Pharisees found this out at the empty tomb and you and I are challenged daily to accept this reality and allow His Kingdom to come on earth (in our lives and influence) as it is in Heaven (the presence of God).

Daniel Harding



A Family Tree

John 15:5 I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing.

I saw an advertisement for a family tree chart and it made me start thinking… what would it look like if I were able to draw my Spiritual family tree. Who shared the Gospel with me? Who shared with them before that? What would it look like if we were able to trace back to the beginnings of our faith.

It would be so great to know the story of each of those people.  Where they lived and went to church.  How the Gospel was given to them in a way that they could understand and believe. 

And then I began to consider what my tree would look like going forward. Who have I shared the Gospel with? Have those people shared it with another? I’m afraid my branches going forward are woefully short of what I would like for them to be.

What about your tree? Has the Gospel stopped with you or will your branch continue?  God help us all to share with others so that the family tree of Christians will be full!

Harriet Bowman



Cynicism vs. Wonder

Our students are about to begin a series where we travel through the book of Luke. We hope to learn a few things while we are there; Jesus’ role in fulfilling the promise to be Israel’s Messiah, Jesus’ call to establish his kingdom on earth, Jesus’ promise of what is to come, and finally; Jesus’ conflict with the kingdoms of the world.  Luke allows us so much history in his writing that we are provided with multiple inputs as to how certain events came to pass.

The first reality that I was struck with was the interaction between the angel and Zechariah and the interaction with the angel and Mary and how they contrast with each other. Zechariah is condemned by the angel for his disbelief and while Mary also pronounces astonishment she is not condemned.

There seems to be a distinction in their questions which I want to allow to challenge us today.

Zechariah asked the angel, “How can I be sure of this? I am an old man and my wife is well along in years.”

Luke [1:18]

“How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?”

Luke [1:34]

Zechariah expresses disbelief and wants personal assurance. Mary expresses disbelief as to how it might be accomplished. Simply put, Zechariah says, “when I see it, I’ll believe it.” Mary states, “I don’t understand how this can happen.”

Do we see the difference? How does this apply to us? Well, many times our belief that God is at work is based wholly on our personal experience. If it is not working for us, at that moment, we don’t have much faith that it will happen.

Let’s embrace the wonder of what it means to serve the Living God.

Daniel Harding



Comfort

2 Corinthians 1:1-7


 I suppose I’ve read 2 Corinthians quite a bit in my life. And I suppose when rereading it I gloss over things that I deem unimportant. And I suppose others may do the same thing. And I suppose that God is forgiving for us doing so. And I suppose that at times (the time of this writing, you have already supposed) that God gives us enlightenment to glean a little understanding from aforementioned glossed over material.

I propose to get started.

After the introduction Paul immediately gives God some praise. “Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort; Who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God.”

Now Paul is very familiar with trouble. Back in Acts we see where he was going down the road looking for folks to arrest when Christ pays him a visit and enlightens him that he has some work to do. Jesus sends him on his way. And it’s worth mentioning that after his encounter Paul can’t see anything. 

 So he goes into the town and Ananias meets and tells him what Christ would have him to do. Paul’s sight is restored, he is baptized, and his once enemies feed him and nurse him to health. God’s handiwork is all over that story. Comfort is provided when none is in sight (pun intended). 

Well what about in early history? Where is the comfort there? 

Old Noah knew a little about comfort. He spent a while cooped up with his family on an ark. If I may be so bold I’d say he was probably sick and tired of them before they got off the ark. God sent comfort to him in the shape of an olive leaf in the beak of a bird. The comfort there was that he could finally get away from his family and catch a little break. 

Well, that’s all old junk. It’s 2020. Where’s my comfort?  

There are times when I have felt like Paul after his encounter with Christ. I can’t see what I need to be doing. I try to fix myself and get back on track and I end up further in the ditch. But while I’m struggling with what I should do, God sends an Ananias to help me out. He takes many forms. Sometimes he’s a text in the middle of the day with an encouraging word. Sometimes he’s a devotion/bible reading that I’m doing. Whatever form he takes I get the comfort that I have been desiring and I know that it has come from God himself.

And when I see and recognize what that particular Ananias has done for me, it allows me to follow suit and (hopefully) provide the comfort that has been granted to me. Even if it’s insignificant as an olive leaf. That leaf that we give may (with God’s help) continue to grow and provide comfort for folks we don’t even know.  

For what it’s worth Ananias literally means “whom Jehovah has graciously given.” May God allow us to comfort one another while we live here below. 

Riley Lee



The Task of the Urgent

Genesis 22:1-3 ¶ And it came to pass after these things, that God did tempt Abraham, and said unto him, Abraham: and he said, Behold, here I am. 2 And he said, Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of. 3 ¶ And Abraham rose up early in the morning, and saddled his ass, and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son, and clave the wood for the burnt offering, and rose up, and went unto the place of which God had told him.

While reading this morning I was reminded of the reality of the important, the necessary, and the urgent. While all of these carry significant weight, the prioritizing of these is not something I am always good at. My life can become mundane, at times confusing, and then at other times conflicting. The reasoning behind most of this is the “now” somehow evades me and I elude it until it becomes urgent! I confess I am sometime a procrastinator around the house, around the church, and at times when it comes to the things God has engaged me in with HIM.

In the passage above God is engaging Abraham and He says, “Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac”! There is no room for error here, no possibility of misunderstanding, the now reveals the important- the necessary, and also the urgent! Scripture says Abraham obeyed!

My prayer today is, Lord I thank you that the temporal is less urgent and the eternal is far more important than ever before. God grant me the guts and grace to see every opportunity and seize it for your glory.

Derwin Griffin



The Real Truth

John [8:32]  ….and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.

What is “your” truth?? There is a popular phrase going on TV and in social media which refers to an individual’s own personal truth. “Own your truth” a person might say. The meaning behind this being that if you believe something strongly enough, then it is true for you.

I don’t want to take away someone’s truth this morning, but I do disagree. For example: Our dog, Jack, is a dog. I may call him a cat, feed him cat food, and dress him in cat clothes, but the truth remains that Jack is a dog. In the famous story of Chicken Little, his truth was that the sky was falling down. And he really believed it. To Chicken Little he was not lying when he said to others “The Sky Is Falling Down!!” But the real truth was that an acorn had fallen on Chicken Little’s head.

There have always been people who choose their own version of life and call it true. They actively seek others who will back up their version.  But through all the falsehood, truth remains. There is an actual “Real Truth.” Be very sure that in creating your own truth, you have not begun to just believe a lie and call it true. Knowing the truth and admitting to the real truth brings happiness and joy and stability to life.

In John 14:6 Jesus said, “I am the Way and the Truth and the Life. No man comes to the Father except through me.” Start looking for the real truth today. Be a truth teller. Speak the truth in love. Examine yourself. You are ultimately responsible for what you believe.

Harriet Bowman