Grayling Lighthouse Of Hope

09/08/2026

September 8, 2026, Today's Devotion

"SHAPING THE FUTURE"

Impress (these commandments) on your
children. Talk about theme when you sit at home
and when you walk along the road, when you
lie down and when you get up.
DEUTERONOMY 6:7 NIV

Parenting may be the hardest job you will ever undertake. If your
parenting days are ahead of you, brace yourself! And if they are mostly
behind you, then you know what I mean. (I say "mostly" because paren-
ting is never completely finished.)

One of your goals as a parent is to work yourself out of a job. Some-
day your children will leave home, and a major part of your responsibility
is to prepare them for that day. From teaching them to brush their teeth
and tie their shoes to helping with their homework and encouraging them
to make wise decisions, your goal is to prepare them for the day when you
won't be there.

But what about their spiritual foundations? Have your children learned
from you what it means to walk with Christ every day? Have you taught
them to pray, to love the Bible, and to live by it's truths? Have you encour-
aged them to give their lives to Jesus Christ? Don't leave it until it's too
late, but begin now to help them build the moral and spiritual foundations
they need for life.

09/07/2026

September 7, 2026, Today's Devotion

"PEACE ON EARTH?"

He Himself is our peace.

EPHESIANS 2:14

For as long as I can remember there have been innovative ideas for
bringing peace on this Earth. Organizations have been created, much
money and time have been spent, treaties have been signed, books have
been written--all in an effort to find a formula that would bring peace on
Earth and good will to men.

World war 1 was called "the war to end all wars," but it wasn't. Whe-
ther nations fight one another or not, there is warfare in the home: war-
fare between husband and wife, between parents and children, between
brothers and sisters, between neighbors, between boss and employee.

What can be done? It sounds almost simplistic to say we need to turn
to God, but that is the only lasting solution. Only God can remove the poi-
sons of greed and hatred and jealousy in our hearts, and replace them with
contentment and compassion and forgiveness. Only He can subdue the
violence and anger that rage within us, and replace them with His peace
and love.

Whatever wars rage in your life, lay them at the foot of the cross and
ask Jesus to give you His peace.

09/06/2026

09/04/2026

September 4, 2026 Today's Devotion

"SATAN'S PERSISTENCE"

The devil....was thrown into the lake of burning
sulfur.... tormented day and night for ever and ever.

REVELATION 20:10 NIV

God-who cannot lie-assures us that this is what awaits Satan. So why
doesn't the Enemy just give up and stop bothering us?

Perhaps he still expects to win. After all, Satan totally rejects everything
about God--including His promises. Even in the garden of Eden, Satan re-
jected God's word and branded God a liar (Genesis 3:1-4). Perhaps Satan still
rejects everything God says, even what He says about his destiny.

But Satan also persists because he has one main goal: to block God's
work in any way he can. As long as he is active, people will be deceived into
following his way instead of God's way. Even believers can be diverted from
God's plan for their life and be content with a lukewarm faith that makes
little impact on others.

Yes, someday Satan will be defeated--but in the meantime, we must
be on our guard, because he "prowls around like a roaring lion looking for
someone to devour" (1 Peter 5:8 NIV). Don't be his next victim!

09/03/2026

September 3, 2026, Today's Devotion

"PATIENCE AND PERFECTION"

The testing of your faith produces patience.

JAMES 1:3

Patience isn't easy for most of us. If a plane is delayed a few minutes
or something doesn't happen exactly when or how we expected it to, we
get impatient and frustrated. I have heard of people who quit going to a
particular church because the preacher didn't stop exactly on time! James
said, "Be patient, then, brothers, until the Lord's coming. See how the far-
mer waits for the land to yield its valuable crop and how patient he is for
the autumn and spring rains. You too, be patient and stand firm, because
the Lord's coming is near" James 5:7-8 NIV, italics mine).

Patience is not simply teeth-clenched endurance. It is an attitude of
expectation. The farmer patiently watches his barren ground because he
knows there will be results. He has patience as he labors because there
will be products of his labor.

So it is in the spiritual realm. God knows the final product of what is
happening to us, so He would have us link patience to our faith. Ask God
for the gift of patience-and then use it.

09/02/2026

September 1, 2026, Today's Devotion

"OUR SOVEREIGN GOD"

Do you show contempt for the riches of His kindness,
tolerance and patience, not realizing that God's
kindness leads you toward repentance?

ROMANS 2:4 NIV

Has it ever bothered you that some people who turn their backs on
God seem to go through life without ever having anything bad happen to
them? Life is so easy for them that they can't see any reason to bother
with God.

But we don't know their hearts. Deep inside they may actually be very
insecure and fearful--and they may not even be able to admit it to them-
selves.
We also need to remember that God sees the whole picture, while we
see only a little part. God knows what He is doing, and He can be trusted to
do what is right according to His perfect plan.

Sadly, these people will one day die and face judgment. God's good-
ness to them should have caused them to turn to Him in thankfulness and
trust, but instead they ignored His blessings and lived only for themselves.
How tragic!

Ask God to use you to point others to Christ--even those who seeming-
ly have no interest in Him

08/31/2026

August 31, 2026, Today's Devotion

"CHRIST-- OUR EXAMPLE"

He learned obedience by the things
which He suffered.

HEBREWS 5:8

The main reason Jesus died on the cross was to save us from our
sins. But the New Testament also stresses the importance of His suf-
fering as an example for us.

The Greek word for example comes from ancient school life. It re-
fers to something written down by a teacher so it could be followed and
copied exactly by a child learning to write. Christ is our copybook. We
look to Him as our teacher: His suffering gave us an example to follow,
so we can learn how suffering is to be borne.

How did Jesus bear it? By not giving in to despair or doubt. By look-
ing beyond His suffering and seeing the glory that was to come. By re-
membering that the Father was with Him and would use His suffering
for good. We can do the same.

The author of Hebrews wrote, "Consider him who endured such
opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose
heart" (12:3 NIV). Yes, consider Him.