Recent Devotions
“Do not be wise in your own eyes; Fear the LORD and depart from evil.” (Proverbs 3:7, ESV) An old saying asserts, “You can’t teach an old dog new tricks.” I’m not sure I agree. It may depend more on the dog’s attitude than its age. At least that’s how it works with people. The ones who are most teachable are eager to learn and willing to listen when instructed. I once showed a friend the best way to perform a certain household task. Eager to learn the correct way, she assured me, “Show me one time and I can do…
“Better is a little with the fear of the LORD than great treasure and trouble with it.” (Proverbs 15:16) I recently experienced an “aha” moment while reading the Bible and meditating on contentment. Just to clarify, contentment is not the same as happiness, even though the thesaurus lists them as…
“Give freely and become more wealthy; be stingy and lose everything. The generous will prosper; those who refresh others will themselves be refreshed” (Proverbs 11:24-25, NLT). Many times, when we think of generosity, we think of money. Does that mean we cannot be generous if we have no money to…
Readers Loved
Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. (Ephesians 5:15-16, ESV) A blank page—a clean slate—a fresh start. Whatever we call it, we usually think of the new year as a beginning point, a chance to start over and correct our disappointments and failures of the past year. Many use the start of a new year as a time to reflect and to resolve. We are now into the second week of 2021, and many have already faltered in keeping their New Year’s resolutions.…
“And when Herod would have brought him forth, the same night Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains: and the keepers before the door kept the prison. And, behold, the angel of the Lord came upon him, and a light shined in the prison: and he smote Peter on the side, and raised him up, saying, Arise up quickly. And his chains fell off from his hands. And the angel said unto him, Gird thyself, and bind on thy sandals. And so he did. And he saith unto him, Cast thy garment about thee, and follow me.”…
“She hath done what she could: she is come aforehand to anoint my body to the burying. Verily I say unto you, Wheresoever this gospel shall be preached throughout the whole world, this also that she hath done shall be spoken of for a memorial of her.” Mark 14:8-9 There are accounts in all four Gospels of a woman anointing Jesus with a precious ointment. In preparation for writing this, I read different commentaries, and none could agree exactly how many times Jesus was anointed. Since the Gospel writers were all writing from different perspectives, their stories were not always…
“Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing.” (I Thessalonians 5:11, ESV) Joses, whom his fellow believers called Barnabas, was an encourager. That’s how he obtained his nickname. Barnabas means “son of encouragement.” He was the kind of person we would all appreciate having as a friend. Despite his miraculous conversion, not everyone readily accepted Saul (later Paul), who had severely persecuted the early church. Barnabas, however, spoke in his defense to the disciples and persuaded them to accept this new convert as a fellow brother in the Lord (Acts 9:26-27). How encouraging it must…
