New Life Bible Church Of Valdosta GA

02/21/2026

09/01/2025

05/23/2023

Two Opposite Pairs
There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way to death.—PROVERBS 14:12
I have met many people who have experienced such deep hurt in their early relationships that they cannot rid themselves of negative ideas about having God as their Father, and by God’s grace I have been able to help some of them. But the route to healing is not an easy one and involves walking a path that is quite different from the one a secular counselor might suggest.
The route which the world usually advises victims of parental abuse to take consists of three steps: self-discovery, self-expression, and self-protection. Self-discovery is where the victim is encouraged to get in touch with his or her repressed emotions. Self-expression is the release
and expression of those emotions. Self-protection is the establishment of boundaries around one’s life so that one will never have to endure or experience serious hurt again.
The biblical route to healing, while recognizing some truth in these ideas, starts from a different base and leads to a different goal. It begins with the question: Do I believe that a God who allowed me to be as deeply hurt as I was is good? And it ends with the question: Am I willing to give myself to those I am called to love and to be more interested in loving well than in protecting myself against hurt?
Which sounds like the easier path of these two? Undoubtedly, the way of the world. The way of Christ may seem as if it is the route to death, but really it is the route to life. To live we must be willing to die; to find we must be willing to lose.
Prayer
Father, help me take Your way in everything I pray. I don’t want symptom relief; I want a complete cure. And if I don’t need help on this particular issue, help me learn how to be of help to others. Amen.

Selwyn Hughes, Holman Bible Staff, Every Day with Jesus Daily Bible (Holman Bible Publishers, 2013).

05/16/2023

Love

If we do not show love to one another, the world has a right to question whether Christianity is true.
—Francis A. Schaeffer

Complete this sentence: My greatest aim in life is … How you respond determines the guiding principle of your life.
God’s greatest aim for your life and ministry is love. Without love, all that you say is ineffective, all that you know is incomplete, all that you believe is insufficient, all that you give is inadequate, and all that you accomplish is insignificant.

LIFE-LOVE = NOTHING

Christianity is not a religion of beliefs—it is a lifestyle of love. The sign of a true Christian is not a crucifix, a fish, or a bumper sticker. The sign of a true Christian is his or her love for God and for His people. Galatians 5:6 says, “The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love.”

Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself.
—Matthew 22:37–39

An enemy of love is busyness. Clear the clutter out of your schedule, and let love be the order of the day. More than video games, trampolines, and the latest novelty toy, children need love. More than a new pair of shoes or a new dress, wives need love. More than a new set of golf clubs or a fishing pole, husbands need love.
For Christians, love is not an option, it is a commandment—sometimes difficult to obey. But God did not leave you helpless, “because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost” (Rom. 5:5 KJV). Draw upon God’s love for you to love the unlovable.

faith into action

Who is the most difficult person in your life right now to love. Lift that person up before God and ask for his strength to help you be specifically and purposefully loving to that person this week.

Stan Toler, Devotions for Pastors (Indianapolis, IN: Wesleyan Publishing House, 2008),

01/20/2023

Heart of the Matter
Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not rely on your own understanding.—PROVERBS 3:5
What is the essential difference between the heart and mind? Many believe there is no difference and that they are really the same thing. But I see a clear difference between the heart and the mind: the mind is the part of us that thinks and reasons; the heart is the part of us that contains our deep longings and desires. Although the mind is important, the heart is even more important because it is the engine room of our personality—the part from which come our drive and motivation. That is why our Lord says, "The mouth speaks from the overflow of the heart" (Mt 12:34).
Christ said that the words He spoke were the words given to Him by His Father (Jn 14:24). Does this mean the Father wrote out the words which He wanted Christ to say, and then Jesus had to learn them by heart? No—the heart of Jesus Christ was the very heart of God the Father; consequently, the words Christ spoke were the exact expression of God's thought. Jesus' tongue was always in its rightful place. He spoke not just from His head but from His heart; His heart and His mind were one.
Oswald Chambers put it like this: "The heart is the central altar and the mind the outer court. What we offer on the central altar will show itself in due course through the outer extremities of personality." In the search for unity of purpose and integration, there is no doubt that the heart of the matter is the matter of the heart.
Prayer
O God, help me to be like Jesus, to pass on to others not just the things that come into my head, but the things that flow out of my heart. Bring my heart in closer contact with Your heart, dear Father. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
Every Day with Jesus Daily Bible. Devotions

01/07/2023

AN OVERTAKEN BROTHER OR SISTER IN CHRIST

“If a man is overtaken in any trespass, you who are
spiritual restore such a one.” – Galatians 6:1

Here is a truth that needs emphasizing in the Church today. Indeed, it
needs to be stressed in one's personal life, too. How easy it is to
condemn a brother who has been overtaken in some trespass. But we are
told, “Judge not, that you be not judged” (Matt. 7:1), and “restore
such a one in a spirit of gentleness” (Gal. 6:1).

The failure to do this lies in the fact that there are few real
spiritual Christians today. “You who are spiritual,” says the apostle
(v. 1). In other words, “You that are Spirit-filled.” And no one can
be Spirit-filled without exhibiting the fruits of the Spirit.

One of these fruits is gentleness. For restoring a brother, this
spirit of gentleness must be exhibited. Jesus was the gentlest man in
all the earth (see also Matt. 11:26).

Lord, may I always remember Your gentleness
and restoration on my behalf when I encounter
someone overcome by sin
,[ According to Your Word: Morning and Evening through the New
Testament, Devotional Journals']

01/02/2023

Very Interesting!!!!
Lamentations:
The Lord hath swallowed up all the habitations of Jacob, and hath not pitied: he hath thrown down in his wrath the strongholds of the daughter of Judah; he hath brought them down to the ground: he hath polluted the kingdom and the princes thereof.Lamentations 2:5

When the whole world stinks, the problem is probably right under your nose.
—Author Unknown
The town drunk passed out on the sidewalk. Some kids thought they would play a trick on him by rubbing aged cheese under his nose. When he awoke, the aroma caused him to say, “This neighborhood stinks.” He pulled himself up and caught a bus. Stepping on the bus he said, “This bus stinks!” Getting off the bus on the other side of town he said, “This neighborhood stinks too!”
When the whole world stinks, the problem is probably right under our nose.We sometimes make some common mistakes: Instead of accentuating the positive, we exaggerate the negative. We allow facts to be replaced by feelings. We compare our ministry to another’s ministry. And we blame ourselves for things that aren’t our fault.

—Lamentations 2:5 [The Lord hath swallowed up all the habitations of Jacob, and hath not pitied: he hath thrown down in his wrath the strongholds of the daughter of Judah; he hath brought them down to the ground: he hath polluted the kingdom and the princes thereof.

Common mistakes are blown out of proportion, one little thing on top of another, until finally we hear ourselves lamenting, “The Lord is like an enemy … he has multiplied mourning and lamentation.”
At times like these, there is only one remedy: PRAYER!!!!!!!!.

Faith into action:Pray the following: Father, forgive me for becoming more conscious of my problems that I am of You. Help me not to lose the focus of Your ministry. Replace stress with Your strength; replace my burdens with Your blessing; replace my pain with Your peace. Thank You so much. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
[A Courtesy from Devotions for Pastors]

12/11/2022

The Searchlight of Truth
Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my concerns.—Psalm 139:23
To have "truth like a belt around [our] waist" means to be possessed by truth. If we are to defend ourselves effectively against the attacks of Satan, then truth and honesty are vital necessities.
The mental health experts tell us that being willing to face the truth about ourselves is an important part of our growth toward maturity. The same is true in the realm of the spiritual. How easy it is to hide from the truth and imagine ourselves to be truthful when really we are not.
Whatever his personal idiosyncrasies and his rebellious attitude toward Christianity, Sigmund Freud made an interesting contribution to our understanding of human personality when he documented with true genius the incredibly subtle ways in which we lie to ourselves. Psychologists call them "defense mechanisms," but a more biblical view of them would be "lying mechanisms." We would all much prefer to be called defensive than dishonest. But whenever we allow ourselves to be self-deceived, we not only impede our spiritual growth—we also lower our defenses against Satan. He thrives on deception, and if he can push us toward self-deception, he maintains a definite advantage over us.
Many of us might react with horror to the suggestion that we are being dishonest, for we would not dream of doing or saying anything that was not according to the truth. Yet it is possible to be open and honest on the outside and yet hide from truth on the inside. All of us, even mature and experienced Christians, are capable of hiding from truth.
Prayer
O Father, I see that if I am to overcome Satan, then I must know truth inwardly as well as outwardly. Search my heart today, dear Lord, and bring to the surface the things within me that are untrue. In Jesus' name I ask it. Amen.
Every Day with Jesus Daily Bible Devotions

12/03/2022

God Is a Father
I am writing to you, fathers, because you have come to know the One who is from the beginning.—1 JOHN 2:13
God is a Father in the creative sense and the familial sense. So, for whom was the Lord's Prayer designed—for everyone or only for God's redeemed children? There is no doubt in my mind that it was intended for Christ's true disciples. Obviously many people outside the Christian church find the words of the Lord's Prayer greatly appealing, but much of the appeal is sentimental rather than spiritual.
To understand the Lord's Prayer and apply its principles in the way our Lord intended, one needs to have experienced a genuine conversion. Then, and only then, does its meaning become apparent. Jesus shows us in the first sentence of His prayer pattern that true prayer must begin with a concept of God as Father. Someone has pointed out that the term "Father" answers all the philosophical questions about the nature of God. A father is a person; therefore God is not an impersonal being, aloof from all our troubles and trials. And, above all, a father is predisposed, by reason of his familial relationship, to give careful attention to what his child says.
When we pray, then, to the Father, we must hold in our minds the picture of our eternal Creator as a being who has a father's heart, a father's love, and a father's strength. This, then, must be the second note we strike when praying—God is a Father, and we must come to Him with all the trust and frankness of a child. Otherwise it is not a prayer.
Prayer
O God, I am so grateful that in the word "Father" I discover the greatest truth about You. My heart pillows itself on that glorious and wonderful fact. Thank You—Father. Amen.

Every Day with Jesus Daily Bible. Devotions

11/29/2022

The Dividing Line

After being put to death in the fleshly realm but made alive in the spiritual realm.—1 Peter 3:18

It was the Holy Spirit who transformed the early disciples from timid and disconsolate men into ones who were ablaze and invincible.

If you draw a line through the pages of the New Testament, you will find on one side a good deal of spiritual staleness while on the other an abundance of spiritual freshness. That line runs straight through an upper room where a group of people waited in simple confidence for the promise their Master had made to them to be fulfilled. We read in Acts 2:4: "They were all filled with the Holy Spirit." That filling was the dividing line in the moral and spiritual development of humanity. It marked a new era—the era of the Holy Spirit.

On the other side of that dividing line, prior to Pentecost, the disciples were spasmodic in their allegiance and achievements. Sometimes they could rejoice that evil spirits were subject to them, and sometimes they had to ask, "Why could we not cast it out?" Sometimes they appeared ready to go to death with Jesus, and sometimes they quarreled over who should have first place in His kingdom. Simon Peter could whip out a sword and cut off the ear of the high priest's servant and then quail before the gaze of a serving maid.

Then came Pentecost. A divine reinforcement took place. They were new men doing new work—no longer spasmodic, but stable. On which side of that dividing line are you? Are you a pre-Pentecost Christian, spasmodic and intermittent, or a post-Pentecost Christian—dynamic and different?

Every Day with Jesus Daily Bible Devotions

11/11/2022

The Belt of Truth
You are near, Lord, and all Your commands are true.—Psalm 119:151
Paul, in listing the six main pieces of a soldier's equipment, illustrated the six main ways by which we can defend ourselves against the power of Satan—truth, righteousness, steadfastness, faith, salvation, and the Word of God.
Most commentators believe that the reason why Paul chose these six pieces of armor to describe the Christian's protective system against satanic attack was because he was chained to a soldier as he wrote the letter (Eph 6:20). Although it is probably unlikely that the soldier standing guard in prison would have worn the full armor of an infantryman on the battlefield, the sight of him would have kindled Paul's imagination.
The list begins with the belt of truth. Why, we ask ourselves, does the apostle start with such a seemingly insignificant item? Why did he not begin with one of the bigger and more important pieces of equipment, such as the breastplate, the shield, or the sword of the Spirit? The order in which these pieces are given to us is an inspired order, and if we change the order we make our position extremely perilous. For example, the reason why many Christians fail to wield the sword of the Spirit effectively is because they have not first girded their waist with truth. If we reverse the order, we succeed only in weakening our spiritual defense.
It is very important that we grasp this. Girding our waist with truth is always the place to start whenever we are under satanic attack. If we don't start right, then we will not finish right. We cannot do battle with the Devil until we first gird our waists with truth. Be encouraged and Blessed

Every Day with Jesus Daily Bible. Devotions