Happy Thursday, {{first_name | everyone}}!
Thursday is such a joy — it’s the day we follow the verse to Jesus, and this week the trail leads straight into the wilderness.
In today’s email…
✝️ The scene where the devil actually left, and who made him go
❤️ Something to do this week for somebody else
🔦 Community spotlight…
MEMORIZE 🧠
______ __________ therefore to ___. ______ the _____, and __ will ____ from ___.
James 4:7
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p.s. The free mug says "the taste of grace" inside the rim, a nod to Psalm 34:8 (send us a pic when you take your first sip and we may or may not feature you in the newsletter! 🙂).
CONTEXT 📕
In the metaphor from yesterday about the marriage between God and his people, we are pointed to the wilderness:
I remember the devotion of your youth,
your love as a bride,
how you followed me in the wilderness,
in a land not sown.
When our verse talks about submitting to God, it is a marriage metaphor.
And when it speaks to resisting the devil, it is a thing for the wilderness.
Right after Jesus was baptized, he was led into the wilderness by the Holy Spirit.
The devil met him there and set all kinds of tests for him.
Q: How can I resist the devil?
A: Look to Jesus as the perfect example.
For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps. He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth.
When tested by the devil, Jesus did two things:
He explicitly commanded him to go.
He quoted Scripture, in its proper context (that’s why we exist at Malachi Daily!)
Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. And he said to him, “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.” Then Jesus said to him, “Be gone, Satan! For it is written,
“‘You shall worship the Lord your God
and him only shall you serve.’”
Then the devil left him, and behold, angels came and were ministering to him.
I wonder about the significance of the wilderness as the place where both the Israelites and Jesus were tempted.
I’ve seen in my own life that the temptations of the devil come the loudest when I am by myself. One of my mentors warned me that isolated ones make easy prey — an apt metaphor for that prowling lion, the devil.
Memorizing Bible verses also really helps, because it gives me the words to cling to in a difficult moment.
So in the spiritual war against the devil, we can:
Say “In the name of Jesus, be gone, Satan.”
Declare the truth of Scripture into the situation.
APPLY AND RESPOND 🏃♂
🤔 Reflect
When do you feel the most tempted to sin?
When I am alone (disconnected from others)
When I am peer-pressured (surrounded by bad influences)
When I am doing great (bored or self-sufficient)
When I am exhausted (tired, stressed, and concerned)
🏃♂ Act
Don’t isolate when temptation or hardship comes. Reach out to a faithful Christian friend, family member, or church member. A simple message, honest conversation or coffee together can strengthen both of you to resist the devil and pursue holiness.
🙏 Pray
Father, you always offer me a way out of temptation. Help me to follow Jesus’ example and use clear commands and Bible verses to combat the enemy’s attacks on my life. Amen.
COMMUNITY SPOTLIGHT 🔦
We’ve been so grateful to hear your stories. Keep them coming!
One of the biggest encouragements to me is hearing how God is moving in the lives of other people I know. It reminds me that God is active and moving every single day.
To that end, we would love to hear how God is moving in your life!
Simply fill out this 30-second survey and tell us what you’ve seen God do!
A wonderful study and a strong help to encourage us as we live our daily lives. God’s mercy and goodness to us is strongly presented. Thank you for your thoughtful and Spirit-led study!
- Anonymous
God has been taking my past and putting it behind me. The devil used to tell me that I needed the answers to my questions about what happened to me in order to move on. But God reminds me daily how precious I am to him, and I have such peace in my life now.
- Nancy
SHOUT-OUTS 📣
HUGE thank you to Jennifer, Judy, Frank, Travis and everyone else who chose to pay-it-forward to support our work and help us keep operating!
Your support allows us to keep Malachi Daily free and accessible to everyone!
p.s. If you’d like to give a custom amount to support our work, you can do that here.
ANSWER KEY ✅
Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
James 4:7
If you missed our emails from earlier this week, you can read them here:
Best,
The Malachi Daily team 🙏
Today’s Contributors
Eljoh is a South African writer, editor, and artist with a Master’s in Practical Theology. She creates resources to help believers of all ages abide in Christ and grow in faith. Explore more free resources and creative tools at Vine Creative Studio.
Kieran is a husband and father living in NJ. In addition to Malachi Daily, he writes a personal newsletter about the intersection of faith, fatherhood and entrepreneurship.
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Try our iPhone app 📱
Want to go even deeper with memorizing Scripture and learning its context?
Our iPhone app, Within allows you to:
Memorize 1 verse every single week and learn its context through daily devotionals you can read (or listen to)
Memorize any verse you want in your favorite bible translation
Store all of your previously memorized verses in one place (and review them regularly with interactive games)
And much more!
What are the differences between Within and Malachi Daily?
Malachi Daily 📧 | Within 📱 | |
|---|---|---|
Type of tool | Email newsletter | iOS mobile app |
Cost | Free | 7-day free trial, then $5.99/mo or $49.99/year |
# of verses | 4 verses per month as a community | 4 verses per month as a community + unlimited for any verse you want |
Who chooses the verse | We choose | We choose AND you can memorize any verse you want, anytime |
Bible translation(s) | ESV | ESV, NIV, NLT, KJV, and NASB |
Reviewing previously memorized verses | You do this on your own | Use the built-in memory bank |
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