Kerusso Daily Devotional

You’ve heard of heat-seeking missiles. They are weapons so sophisticated that they appear to have a mind of their own. The missile is launched and finds its target, and destruction happens. 

What if a heat-seeking missile could be used for good? What if one has been launched…in your direction?

Matthew 7:7, “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.”

If you open your heart to God...

The story of the Prodigal Son is one we can all relate to. The Bible tells the story of a brash young man who leaves his home after asking for his inheritance. His loving father complies, and let’s just say the son learns some valuable lessons on his travels.

Eventually, he humbles himself and comes home; he needs his father and his family.

It is really a story of Jesus and us.

Matthew 7:7, “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and y...

Have you ever seen the film, “Saving Private Ryan?” If not, it’s about a group of American soldiers sent into enemy territory during World War 2 to find one lost soldier. The order comes from top leadership.

This small group has a single focus the whole mission. Eventually—at great cost—they locate him and return him to his loved ones. Much of it is difficult to watch, as we see the incredible sacrifice the many make to find the one...

Have you ever hunted and hunted for something, maybe your car keys, and you finally find them? The old saying goes (it’s very unhelpful!) that you find them in the last place you looked. There’s a lot of truth to that, though.

It also is very relevant to our walk with Jesus. Often, we work really hard to solve our own problems, then we finally give in and ask Jesus for help.

Matthew 7:7, “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you...

Have you ever watched a war movie and realized that the actors didn’t know how the conflict would turn out? World War 2 movies are like that. When they filmed “Casablanca,” Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman weren’t sure whether the Germans would win or lose.

Life can be like that.

Matthew 28:20 says, “And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

In your own life, you might be facing some really serious stuff. And it’...

Have you ever been fooled by someone? Doesn’t feel good, does it?

But the absolute worst is when we fool ourselves. We try to manage some problem on our own, or analyze a situation gone awry.

The Bible has a better way of thinking about it.

Proverbs 3:5 says, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding.”

We have to do two things here: give total control to God, and de-emphasize our own judgment. Someti...

The Bible is full of what many would call difficult stories. Some of them don’t make a lot of sense at first. Others seem contrary to what we think should happen.

One such story is breathtaking if we follow it through. It involves a father trusting God more than his own instincts.

2 Corinthians 5:7 says, “For we live by faith, and not by sight.”

In Genesis, we read about Abraham being instructed by the Lord to offer his young son, Isa...

Of all the gifts God gives His children, joy is perhaps the one closest to heaven on earth

Who isn’t aware just how wonderful it feels to experience true joy? It is as if the Lord has freed a prisoner.

When American POWs returned from captivity in Vietnam, the looks on their faces as they emerged from the planes carrying them to freedom…well, no one will ever forget that!

Psalm 16:9 says, “Therefore my heart is glad, and my whole bein...

When trouble is on the horizon, it can be hard to trust in God’s promises, and to believe He has a plan for us.

The book of Judges in the Old Testament gives us an awesome example of trusting God in the story of Gideon.

God called Gideon to lead Israel into battle with the Midianites, who had a sizable army of 135,000 men. Gideon gathered an army of 32,000 men to battle with the Midianites, but despite odds in favor of the enemy, God...

You know, someone may have tried to convince you at some point in your life that we’re alone in the cold void of the universe, but that has never been true. 

It’s especially false for the believer who understands what God has done for all people everywhere. 

He, the Creator of the universe, formed us long ago, and His Word tells us clearly that He never takes a second off in His pursuit of us. 

Consider this: If you’re stuck in a bad ...

Today, we continue our series on healthy relationships, and we’re talking about managing difficult relationships. 

There's a wonderful scene in the classic film To Kill a Mockingbird, when the attorney Atticus Finch is confronted by the father of a girl who has accused a black man of rape, the father, enraged walks up to Finch, played perfectly by Gregory Peck. He spits in Finch’s face as the attorneys' children watch. 

You...

You’ve heard the joke about family gatherings, haven’t you?

If you weren’t related to these people, you’d never see them.

What a horrible punchline, really.

1 Corinthians 13:7 says, “Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.”

God’s Word has purpose in everything. Everything.

He gave you a specific family for specific reasons. It’s super easy to be nice to people we aren’t around very much. Short-t...

When we walk with God, we want to see that our relationships are healthy. It’s part of the command to love one another

Few things are more heartbreaking than damaged relationships. When those linger, the Body of Christ is weakened. Churches split because of it. Families suffer for it.

Joshua 22:5 says, “Love the Lord your God, walk in all his ways, obey his commands, hold firmly to him, and serve him with all your heart and all your ...

When it comes to love, the secular world has plenty to say. Turn on the television, radio, or explore the internet, and you’ll find advice on every type of relationship, from friendships to getting along with your parents, and of course — advice on romantic relationships. People are clamoring to figure love out…but what does the Bible say about love?

1 Corinthians 13:4–5 says, “Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it doe...

Jesus, the greatest teacher who ever lived, spent a lot of time giving out wisdom in the form of stories. Once, He told His disciples a story that illustrated the importance of understanding that God never quits us, and we should not quit Him.

Luke 18:1 says, “One day Jesus told his disciples a story to show that they should always pray and never give up.”

That story was about a woman who didn’t give up in her pursuit of justice. Jes...

Have you ever been in such a dark place that you wondered if God cares about you, or if He even exists? Maybe it’s all some cosmic joke, right? We’ve all been there. Humans doubt. We doubt ourselves, we doubt product labels, we doubt our kids. We question everything.

But the worst one is trying to figure out where God is in the middle of life’s great difficulties. Sometimes the world is just flat-out mean, and it seems like it’s an ...

At an address in Columbus, Ohio, in 1900, former slave Booker T. Washington kept the room spellbound. This man, who had built Tuskegee Institute to lift blacks out of economic bondage, was revered around the world.

But he said something that surprised more than a few in the audience. He said that one of his main priorities for the Institute was hiring more Bible teachers!

Washington, who had been forced to work in an evil system, onc...

Bill was a very successful businessman for a lot of years. About 10 years ahead of retirement, he decided to entrust a lot of money to the investment wizardry of Bernie Madoff. And when Madoff’s Ponzi scheme imploded, Bill joined many others who now had to wonder where their money went. And he thought of suicide. 

For fully two years, he struggled to get out of bed. He felt sapped of energy every waking moment. Then, on a park bench...

Are you the kind of person everyone looks at and assumes you are strong and you have it all together? You too, huh? Many of us look fine on the outside, but the human condition is often much different on the inside.

Proverbs 31:25 says this of a godly woman: “She is clothed with strength and dignity; she can laugh at the days to come.”

As believers, we can laugh in the midst of struggle because God did not make us to have a spirit of...