Recent Devotions
These six things the LORD hates, Yes, seven are an abomination to Him: A proud look, A lying tongue, Hands that shed innocent blood, A heart that devises wicked plans, Feet that are swift in running to evil, A false witness who speaks lies, And one who sows discord among brethren. (Proverbs 6:16-19, NKJV) As I sat in midweek Bible study, our pastor made the point that we must “love what God loves and hate what God hates.” Proverbs 8:13 confirms this. “The fear [respect, reverence] of the LORD is to hate evil; pride and arrogance and the evil way and…
“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…
“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…
Readers Loved
Sarah was identified by God as the “mother of nations.” But for so many years, she had been childless. The promise of God was spoken to Abraham, but as time passed, she felt forgotten and forsaken. “Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life.” (Proverbs 13:12, NIV.) She was heartsick, questioning, and longing for something that seemed so out of reach as the years slipped by. She had waited eleven long years for the promise to be fulfilled. Finally, in her impatience and desperation, Sarah sent her servant to conceive in her place—Hagar,.her…
“After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands; And cried with a loud voice, saying, Salvation to our God which sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb.” Revelation 7:9-10 This Sunday we will be celebrating International Sunday in our church, and we will have 30 different nationalities represented. It is always so amazing to see people march into the sanctuary carrying the flags of the country in…
“But don’t just listen to God’s word. You must do what it says. Otherwise, you are only fooling yourselves.” James 1:22 NLT I have two young children, so speaking to them and not truly being heard is a frequent occurrence in my home. They are busy, active children who have their minds set on their current task and anything beyond that is unimportant. Usually, I have to fight for their attention, just to be sure that they have indeed heard the words I spoke. Sometimes I’m guilty of doing the same thing. I can walk away from people having not…
“But you are not like that, for you are a chosen people. You are royal priests, a holy nation, God’s very own possession. As a result, you can show others the goodness of God, for he called you out of the darkness into his wonderful light.” 1 Peter 2:9 This verse contains a very important promise from God – we are his possession. To some, this may sound like a bad thing, but to me it sounds like safety and peace. I am so thankful that I belong to Christ! When everyone fails me, and when I fail myself, He…
