Daily Devotional Monday Motivation | May 11, 2026

Happy Monday! It’s time for your daily devotional. Jesus made some strong public pronouncements against the Pharisees. By no means was this a pleasurable moment for Him. As 1 Timothy 2:4 declares, it is God’s will that all men be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth. In today’s daily devotional, don’t stop witnessing to the lost; God can change them if they accept Christ. 

God’s Love to Them

Jesus warned the scribes and Pharisees that they’d be held accountable for the bloodshed of God’s prophets. Jesus was faithful in obeying the Father in everything. He taught in the temple and the surrounding synagogues about the Kingdom of God, righteousness, and faith. He was an example of God’s love to them.

They Received Him Not

Jesus performed miracles, signs, and wonders. The Apostle John, in his gospel, states that there were so many things Jesus did that the world couldn’t contain all the books that could be written. Yet the scripture rings true: He came unto His own, and His own received Him not. In your daily devotional, encourage others to accept Christ. It doesn’t matter how long they’ve been in sin. Jesus came to set them free. 

O Jerusalem, Jerusalem

Jesus, in His great love for Israel, cries out in Matthew 23:37: “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!” Jerusalem was a place where prophets were killed, including James whose death “pleased the Jews.” Peter and John were scourged there, and they persecuted and crucified the Son of God.

The gospel was first preached in Jerusalem, and from there, persecution first rose. Jews stirred up persecution wherever the apostles went, determined to silence the gospel message. Though Jerusalem had no authority to put men to death, they killed the prophets by mobbing and stoning them, like Stephen, and turned them over to Rome to kill them.  They used the law meant to punish false prophets and seducers to stone true prophets of God. 

Even though Israel killed God’s prophets and rejected Christ, God’s grace and favor toward His people causes Jesus to weep over them. He desires to gather them like children unto Himself, like a mother hen tucks in her brood for protection, warmth, and safety.  In Psalm 91:14, God covers you with His feathers. Malachi 4:2 declares there’s healing under Christ’s wings. In this daily devotional, thank God for His ever-loving and compassionate grace, hiding you in the shelter of His wings.

God’s Mercy Extended

In verse 38, by rejecting Jesus’s repeated attempts, through teaching, preaching, and performing miracles, their house is left to them desolate. After Jesus departed the temple, everything in Jerusalem, including the temple, would be laid waste, because they had rejected Him. They’d face destruction because they did not accept the One God sent as their Redeemer.

There would be great destruction as Roman forces would break through their defenses in 70 AD, killing, destroying, and burning the city to the ground. In your daily devotional, disobedience brings consequences, yet God’s mercy is extended to you; Jesus’ arms are yet open wide. 

You are Changed by Accepting Christ

In Monday’s daily devotional, Jesus states that when they see Him again, they will say, “Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord,” for every knee shall bow to Him. The scribes and Pharisees missed their visitation; however, in today’s daily devotional, you are changed by accepting Christ.