Fifteenth Street Baptist Church

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Surely the righteous will never be shaken; they will be remembered forever. They will have no fear of bad news; their he...
08/05/2026

Surely the righteous will never be shaken; they will be remembered forever.

They will have no fear of bad news; their hearts are steadfast, trusting in the Lord.

Their hearts are secure, they will have no fear; in the end they will look in triumph on their foes.
Psalm 112:6–8 NIV

No fear of bad news.

Psalm 112 says this is what characterizes the righteous. But in a world where troubling headlines seem endless and fearful reports come without warning, how is this even possible?

I think many of us know what it’s like for fear to get ahead of us. We receive an unexpected report, and before anything has happened, our minds are already racing ahead, imagining outcomes that haven’t even happened.

Yet Psalm 112 tells us that the righteous respond differently. Notice that the verse doesn’t say they never receive an unfavorable report.

It doesn’t say they have all the answers or know exactly how things will turn out.

It simply says they do not fear bad news because their hearts are steadfast, trusting in the Lord.

Beloved, the righteous can remain steadfast because their confidence is not in favorable circumstances or in knowing how things will turn out.

Their confidence is in the Lord. And because Jesus has made you righteous, this confidence belongs to you as well.

Fear doesn’t get to decide how your story ends.

Instead, answer those thoughts with the promises of God.

Declare that the Lord is your confidence, that His goodness and mercy are following you all the days of your life,

and that the One who has faithfully brought you through yesterday will remain faithful tomorrow.

As you do, you’ll find your heart becoming settled once again, steadfast and trusting in the Lord.

Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. You are My friends if you do what I comman...
07/25/2026

Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.

You are My friends if you do what I command. I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business.

Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from My Father I have made known to you. — John 15:13 - 15

I am your best Friend, and I am your King.

My friendship is practical and down-to-earth.

As your Friend, I am always here to listen and to help.

Together we will face whatever each day brings: pleasures, hardships, adventures, disappointments.

But as your heavenly King, our friendship opens up so many more possibilities.

As King, I can create something wonderful out of the ashes of lost dreams, Joy out of sorrow, and Peace out of problems.

And it’s all because I love you.

My Love for you is so great that I gave up Heaven to come to earth as a helpless baby.

It is so great that I lived in the dust and sin of this world. And it is so great that I died on the cross to save your soul.

There is no other friend like Me!
❤️

Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inherit...
07/23/2026

Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ. — Colossians 3:23–24 ESV

One of the more amazing aspects of working to honor God is seeing what He can do with what we do.

The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it. — verse 15 ESV

No sooner had God’s Spirit filled our nostrils with our first breath than we had a job to do.

A work ethic is hardwired into our system.

We work for God because we love Him and we want to, not because we are forced to. ~ Johnny Cash

Even if we feel guilty, God is greater than our feelings, and he knows everything. . . . If we don’t feel guilty, we can...
07/17/2026

Even if we feel guilty, God is greater than our feelings, and he knows everything. . . . If we don’t feel guilty, we can come to God with bold confidence. - 1 John 3:20-21

Guilt is an interesting concept. By definition, it is a legal term.

A person is guilty when he or she has actually committed some offense or crime.

The definition can also include the feeling of having done something wrong.

But it is not meant to describe an ongoing emotional state that is generalized into a perpetual sense of shame.

That’s why John reminds us that God, who knows everything about us, is greater than our guilt feelings.

If we have a chronic or underlying sense of guilt or shame, we need to get to the root of it.

One way to do this is to take what people in twelve-step programs call "a fearless moral inventory" of our lives.

Are we holding on to some past failure?

Whatever is at the root of those feelings must be brought to God and confessed to someone we trust with the realization that God already knows all about it and has taken away our guilt.

Ask Yourself
What do you think you gain by holding on to feelings of guilt?

Why is it important to confess those feelings to God and to a trusted person?

Ask God
Dear God, help me to see that while feelings of guilt can be an important signal that something is wrong, they can also be a habit.

You know everything, so help me as I get to the source of any chronic guilt in my life.

Taken from Take Your Life Back Day by Day copyright © 2016 by Stephen Arterburn and David Stoop.

He is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything...
07/13/2026

He is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy.
— Colossians 1:18

Honeybees and human beings have a fascination with royalty.

Queens and kings rise and fall, and it’s a mystery that we get so interested in them.

With honeybees, there’s a life-and-death fixation on the queen bee. A colony cannot survive without a queen.

In each hive there is only one queen.

She has been described as “the mother of all the bees,” “the matriarch,” and “the one in charge of the hive.”

The queen is the only fertile female, and a healthy queen will lay up to 2,000 eggs per day!

The queen is at the center of the hive’s life—until she can no longer perform her duties.

When the colony senses that its queen is ailing or preparing to leave, the workers begin a special process to raise a new queen.

They feed a young female “royal jelly” to activate her reproductive system.

Soon she will be able to lay eggs to ensure the future growth and survival of the hive.

It may be tempting to view the rise and fall of royalty as an unbreakable pattern.

But our Bible reading today makes clear that there is one glowing exception.

Christ Jesus, the Son of God, is the eternal King over all things.

He is our head, and we, his people, are his one body.

No replacements. We can trust the Son of God to be the King of the universe and the Savior of our lives forever.

King Jesus, thank you for rescuing us from darkness and bringing us into your marvelous kingdom of light, love, and forgiveness. Amen.

The Lord is not slow to fulfill His promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any shou...
07/09/2026

The Lord is not slow to fulfill His promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. — 2 Peter 3:9 ESV

Inexperienced surfers may watch professionals out in the water, lying on their surfboards and letting wave after wave go by.

Why didn’t he take that one? It looked ideal for a great surf. Surely he missed out on that one.

Then the surfer-pro starts to paddle with his hands and positions his surfboard.

The perfect wave has come, and he rides it in powerfully and with such grace that the bystanders stand in awe, gaping at the skill and timing on display.

Of course, professional surfers know how to judge the status of the wind and the water so they know the right time to take a wave.

Regular beach visitors lack the skills and experience to gauge these things.

We complain, maybe even challenge God, saying He is late or failing to keep His promise.

But God gauges the conditions better than anyone.

He knows the right time to bring on the new creation and wipe away every tear.

He patiently waits so all have the chance to be saved.

Our role is to pray, trust, and spread the gospel, because as sure as the waves roll in every day, Jesus is coming back.

He might not ride in on a wave, but we can rest on the guarantee — He will come at the perfect time.

Jesus, give me patience and trust to wait for You faithfully.

Your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with Him i...
07/08/2026

Your life is now hidden with Christ in God.

When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory. — Colossians 3:3–4 NIV
Off the shores of tropical beaches, coral reefs are sturdy and anchored.

They form when a polyp, a soft- bodied animal, attaches to the sea floor and multiplies into a colony.

These coral families supply limestone to build a hard, protective foundation that grows less than an inch each year.

Yet, unlike stone, these oceanic boulders are alive.

Coral life — some thorny, some spongy, some treelike— form underwater ecosystems of astonishing beauty and diversity.

Coral reefs provide homes for thousands of sea creatures in their spikes, nooks, polyp forests, and open, stony meadows.

The greatest variety of sea life exists in the coral reefs: they are the jungles of the ocean,

vibrant and bursting with communities of fish, sea turtles, crustaceans, and microscopic life, even as they appear still and merely decorative.

The pace of the coral reef’s growth — thousands of years — is a picture of patience. It’s a picture we should apply to our own growth as we become the people God made us to be.

If we surrender to God’s pace and let Him shape us, we flourish with life — life we can share with others as a source of abundance and support.

Jesus, before I hurry to good works, hide my life in Yours and carry me along in patience and steady growth.

He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stum...
06/30/2026

He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak.

Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall.
— Isaiah 40:29-30

The sovereign Lord of the universe, who does not grow tired or weary, gives strength when we are weak and exhausted.

Fatigue is an unavoidable reality for us.

From Moses to Elijah and from David to Hezekiah, the Lord’s chosen prophets and kings felt weakened at times (We can often feel the same way.

But God is the source of our strength. God is our refuge and fortress.

The apostle Paul agrees: “I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me” (2 Corinthians 12:9 )

God is our sustainer, and he renews our strength when we stumble and fall.

He forgives our sins and heals our diseases.

God keeps us on our feet in the struggles of life. He fights our battles and gives us victory.

The Lord gives us our life, and he supplies us the power to live.

Only in him can we move forward, despite our weaknesses. We can trust in him.

Lord, in our weakness we ask that you renew our strength.

Lift us when we are weary, uphold us in every challenge and hardship,

and fill us with your sustaining power so that we may find strength and rest in you. Amen.

By Hernandes Diaz Lopes

Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a longingfulfilled is a tree of life. - Proverbs 13:12Do you struggle with procr...
06/29/2026

Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a longing
fulfilled is a tree of life. - Proverbs 13:12

Do you struggle with procrastination? A postal worker in Berlin could sympathize with you.
Apparently he was found with ninety boxes of undelivered mail in his basement.

The poor guy said there was just too much mail.

He planned to eventually deliver it all—with the help of friends—but he was completely overwhelmed.

Can you resonate with this guy? Everyone has nagging unfinished business in their lives—some more than others.

So what is it that you’re putting off? Weight loss?

A pesky unfinished project around the house? Everyday cleaning? A demanding assignment at work?

Maybe you’re avoiding a trip to the doctor or a tough conversation with someone.

Sometimes it feels like you’re falling behind in every area of your life and letting everyone down, doesn’t it?

It doesn’t have to. Take one step–make one decision and act on it–to finish that piece of unfinished business.

If for some reason you just can’t do it, seek help from a pastor, a friend, or a counselor.

Procrastination is the thief of time. - Edward Young

Copyright © 2026 New Life Ministries, All rights reserved.

Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness in the day of judgment; because as He is, so are we ...
06/25/2026

Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness in the day of judgment; because as He is, so are we in this world.

1 John 4:17
It is wonderful to know that God does not measure and judge you based on your performance today.

Instead, He looks at Jesus, and as Jesus is, that is how He sees you.

His Word declares that “love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness in the day of judgment; because as He is, so are we in this world.”

As new covenant believers, we do not have to fear the day of judgment simply because all our sins have been completely judged at the cross, and as Jesus is, so are we!

Notice that it does not say that “as Jesus was on earth, so are we in this world.”

Yet, that is not what the Word says. What it says is, “as Jesus is” (notice the use of the present tense). In other words, as He is right now, so are we in this world.

What a powerful revelation! Just consider where Jesus is today.

The Bible tells us:

He [God] raised Him [Jesus] from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come.

And He put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.
—Ephesians 1:20–23

The Bible tells us that as Jesus is, so are we right now, in this world.

Meditate on how as Jesus is “far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named,” so are we!

See it in God’s Word for yourself.

See yourself as Jesus is, far above every principality and power,

far above every disease and physical condition, far above every kind of fear, depression and addiction, and begin to reign over every negative situation in your life today!

This devotional is taken from the book 100 Days of Favor—Daily Readings from Unmerited Favo

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3537 N 9th Street
Philadelphia, PA
19140

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