Daily Devotional
By Pastor Jerry Teboe
A Closer Walk with Christ in 2026
Mountain Top Series – Part 3
Being Conformed to Jesus
Genesis 22:1-2
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. Gen 22:2 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.
. This portion is well known, for it looks forward in symbolic form to the sacrifice of Jesus on Mount Calvary.
God called Abraham to go to a special mountain and there to sacrifice the son of promise for whom he had waited 25 years from the time that God promised his coming until he was born. Why was there a 25 year wait? The reason is that God wanted to build character in the heart of Abraham. He needed to become a man of faith so that he could be the father to Isaac that God wanted him to be. Abraham had many lessons to learn before he would be that man of faith.
In like manner, God wants each of us to become all He wants us to be, which is like Christ. Romans 8:29 is clear when it tells us of God’s goal for our lives: For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. God has a plan for each of us, and we need to be conformed to that image which God has for us. We see God’s promise of His plan in Jeremiah 29:11. For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. We may not understand God’s plan while we are in the process of being conformed to Christ’s image, but when the time comes, we will see that His plan was good.
We may never be asked to take a step of faith as great as that of Abraham when he was told to sacrifice his son, but whatever it may be, we can be ready to do God’s will when He calls us to step out for Him!
Remember, Abraham had to wait 25 years for God’s promise to be fulfilled, so don’t be in a hurry; just be faithful day by day, and when the time comes, God will complete His plan in your life!
Bible Reading for the Year
January 14th, Genesis 33-35: Matthew 11
Prayer Needs
Pray for John Head who has surgery today, on the 14th.
Please continue to pray for Jennifer Teboe Buchamer. She completed all of the 28 radiation treatments. Please pray for the tumor to shrink. She will see the doctor at Duke today, on the 14th, to discuss possible follow-up treatment.
Please pray for Melva Jordan, Dr. Jordan’s wife. She sees a cardiologist today on the 14th, the valve specialist on the 15th, and the electrophysiologist on the 16th.
Pray for Anderson and Meredith Womble’s baby, The baby boy had heart surgery yesterday. Pray for a full recovery!
Please pray for Deb Skinner who has surgery on Wednesday, the 20th.
Please pray for Marvin Silverthorne. He will see his eye doctor on January 20th.
Please pray for Jackson Broome. They found a donor. February the 2nd is the date set to begin the procedure. He will need to stay there for 100 days to complete it.
Please pray for Griselda Ramirez and her family. All have been sick with the virus. Carlos and Jayden are better, but her mom, Luisa, and her older son are still struggling. Her mom especially is very sick.
Please continue to pray for Beth Buchta. She had a hip replacement, on November 25th. She saw her orthopedic doctor yesterday and received a good report. She can begin to do a little more each day.
Please pray for Ricky Hill, a coworker of Jeremy Hewitt, who has a tumor on his kidneys which is cancerous.
Please continue to pray for Phil Corey. Pray for his continual dialysis treatments.
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Pray for our Missionaries!
Sue Singleton and the mission in Cambodia
Dr. Joe Jordan and the CBM (Cross and Bible Ministries)
Travis and Caroline Fennessy – IBM missionaries to Southeast Asia