Recent Devotions
According to Google, we make approximately 35,000 conscious decisions every day. Of course, many of these choices seem insignificant and finite. However, every choice we make, good or bad, will impact our lives. Simple Choices: What to wear. What to eat. What to read. What to watch on Netflix. More Complex Choices: What College to attend. Who to marry. What ministry to be involved in. Where to live. we are decision-making machines. The simple decision of our food choices can alter our health in a negative or positive way. Or, the choice of what to watch on T.V and the…
Jesus said to him, “‘You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.” (Matthew 22:37, NKJV) A dedicated employee feels financial panic when her employer terminated several long-term employees without warning. A marriage rocks on the brink of divorce when one…
“And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.” (Hebrews 10:24-25, ESV) In a recent Sunday morning service,…
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While helping an elderly uncle sort through a lifetime of accumulated belongings, I came across a small cloth box tucked away among the many possessions. A simple label on the outside caught my attention: “Jewels.” I paused. Truthfully, I felt a little uncomfortable opening it. The box had belonged to a woman named Gracie. I had never met her. She had no children or grandchildren to sort through her belongings after she passed away. My uncle had faithfully helped her during her final years—bringing groceries, picking up prescriptions, and managing practical matters when she could no longer do so herself.…
“Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.” Psalm 46:10. Being still is difficult for me because I feel like I’m not accomplishing anything. Being still in the presence of God can feel like a waste of time, it sounds terrible to say, but it is true for me. We are people of action and so it can be a foreign practice to just sit at His feet and worship in His presence. I don’t know how many times I have acted like Martha, clinking dishes…
For you equipped me with strength for the battle; you made those who rise against me sink under me. (Psalm 18:39, ESV) What do we do when the enemy comes at us full force? What kind of battle plan do we make when things look bleak and we are outnumbered? In II Chronicles 20, the enemies of Judah aligned themselves against King Jehoshaphat and the people of Judah. The Israelites were greatly outnumbered, and the outlook was grim. What Jehoshaphat did next cannot be found in any military manual. What he did required bold faith. He did not call for…
“And Rizpah the daughter of Aiah took sackcloth, and spread it for her upon the rock… and suffered neither the birds of the air to rest on them by day, nor the beasts of the field by night.” 2 Samuel 21:10 There is grief that is so deep that it refuses to be hidden. Rizpah’s grief refused to remain silent. In 2 Samuel 21, a famine plagued Israel for three years. When King David sought the Lord, he discovered the cause: Saul had broken covenant with the Gibeonites, and the land was reaping the consequence of his unfaithfulness. Though Saul…
