Good evening, brethren. 1. Evening devotional for today. ED.i. *DAILY WALK WITH CHRIST* (COCIN DEVOTIONAL) *DATE:* SATURDAY, 18TH JULY, 2026. *SUB-THEME:* THE CONSEQUENCES OF REJECTING GOD'S GRACE. *TOPIC:* LAWSUITS *TEXT:* 1 CORINTHIANS 6:1-8. 1 If any of you has a grievance against another, how dare he go to law before the unrighteous instead of before the saints! 2 Do you not know that the saints will judge the world? And if you are to judge the world, are you not competent to judge trivial cases? Mat 19:28 Luk 22:30 [Rev 3:21] 3 Do you not know that we will judge angels? How muchmore the things of this life! 4 So if you need to settle everyday matters, do you appoint as judges those of no standing in the church? 5 I say this to your shame. Is there really no one among you wise enough to arbitrate between his brothers? 6 Instead, one brother goes to law against another, and this in front of unbelievers! 7 The very fact that you have lawsuits among you means that you are thoroughly defeated already. Why not rather be wronged? Why not rather be cheated? Pro 20:22 Mat 5:39 Rom 12:17 1Th 5:15 1Pe 3:9 [Lev 19:18] [Luk 6:29] 8 Instead, you yourselves cheat and do wrong, even against your own brothers! *TOPIC:* LAWSUITS *THE MESSAGE:* A lawsuit is a proceeding by one or more parties against the other in a civil court of law. In our text, Paul expresses sadness in the way the Corinthian believers were dragging themselves to court before unbelievers, which affected the Church. This is a denial of the work of the Holy Spirit among believers. A church that claimed to have all the spiritual gifts could not solve trivial issues within themselves. What an irony! The Bible encourages us to settle matters quickly with our adversaries and to live at peace with everyone (Mt. 5:25a). Lawsuits may be helpful after exhausting all available options, as prescribed in Scripture (Mt. 18:15-17). However, try as much as you can to avoid lawsuits because it does not always serve God's purpose (Rom. 12:18). *REFLECTION:* Why not allow yourself to be cheated? *PRAYER:* Father, help me to resolve issues in a scriptural manner. Amen. *MEMORY VERSE FOR THE MONTH:* HEBREWS 10:29. 29 How much more severely do you think one deserves to be punished who has trampled on the Son of God, profaned the blood of the covenant that sanctified him, and insulted the Spirit of grace? *TODAY'S BIBLE READING PLAN:* ISAIAH 17-20. ED.ii. JERUSALEM, A UNIQUE CITY "For the Lord has chosen Jerusalem; He has desired it for His home." - Psalm 132:13 Why is the city of Jerusalem so important? Why is the Middle East conflict so complicated? To the Jews, Jerusalem is the heart of the land promised and given to them by God. Jews from all over the world come to Jerusalem to pray at the Wailing Wall. To Muslims, Jerusalem is the city where they say their prophet Muhammad ascended to heaven. The Dome of the Rock is in Jerusalem and is one of the holiest places for Muslims. To Christians, Jerusalem is the city Jesus often visited. It is where He was crucified just outside the city gate on the hill Calvary. It is the place where He was buried and rose from death. Moreover, it is the city where He will return. Do you understand why Jerusalem is so important? It is the city chosen by God to live in. 'This is My resting place forever, He said. I will live here, for this is the home I desired' (Psalm 132:14). The city has often been occupied by several nations. In Zechariah 12:3 it says: 'I will make Jerusalem an immovable rock for all the nations. All who try to move it will injure themselves.' God has given this city to Abraham and this is the core of the conflict. This conflict cannot be resolved by human interaction. Isaac, the son of Abraham, was the fruit of God's promise. God established an eternal covenant with him. The Jews came from him. The Arabs came from the other son, Ishmael. However, God said that He would make a covenant with Abraham's son Isaac, and not with Ishmael (see Genesis 17:19). https://www.theblessingdevotional.com 2. Evening Prayer for today. EP.i. Evening Prayer I will both lay me down in peace, and sleep: for thou, LORD, only makest me dwell in safety. ⏤ Psalm 4:8 When we cannot see our way, we must trust that the Lord has all our paths mapped out and knows the end from the beginning. ⏤ Charles Spurgeon O Jesus, You love us, and we come now to rest in Your love at the end of this week. It hasn’t been easy for us. We’ve had our work, our tasks, our burdens, our struggles, our anxieties, our duties, and our sorrows. We’re tired tonight. Our feet are weary from the long journey. It’s comforting to remember that You, blessed Jesus, were tired more than once during Your time on earth. We’ve read how You sat down at the well, so weary from traveling in the hot dust that You couldn’t go any further. You understand how we feel when we’re tired. We’re grateful for Your sympathy tonight. Accept our day’s work and make it Yours. Forgive anything wrong You’ve seen in what we’ve said or done. Don’t let anything we’ve done bring harm to Your cause or to anyone else. Forgive any rash words or actions that may have caused pain to someone. Take our work, cleanse it, perfect it, and then use it to help build Your kingdom. The night is before us, but even in its darkness, You walk beside us as our unseen Friend. We want to stay close to You, to hide ourselves in the shelter of Your love—because then no harm will come to us and no evil will touch us. Take care of us—because we can’t take care of ourselves. Keep us—because we can’t keep ourselves. Watch over us in the darkness of the night—because we can’t protect our own lives. Give us refreshing rest in sleep and prepare us for the Sunday that will dawn in the morning. May it truly be the Lord’s Day for us, and may we be in the Spirit, and the Spirit in us. Gather us close to Your heart and cover our home with Your wings. We ask all this in Jesus’ precious name. Amen. https://www.youdevotion.com/daily-prayer/miller/13/evening #taptapstudio #youdevotion.