Recent Devotions
“I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine.” (John 10:14) Our first trip to the Middle East was a culture shock. Most of the passengers on Royal Jordanian Flight 264 were Middle Easterners. My husband and I were a minority on the airplane. Service announcements were bilingual, Arabic, and English. As we navigated through Queen Alia International Airport customs, we were greeted by chaos and less-than-clean bathrooms. Once outside the airport, our missionary hosts picked us up, and we headed to their home in Marj al Hamam. It was on the south side of…
In Jordan, where my husband and I have lived, the Muslim call to prayer sounds five times daily. Mosques all over the country synchronize their calls to prayer. Varying tones of the Arabic-speaking muezzins echo against the stone and concrete walls of the buildings. A friend of mine who visited…
When I was eight, Mount St. Helens erupted in fiery fury. Not long after, I read a book about the disaster. It told the story of Harry Randall Truman. This elderly man lived alone in a cabin at the foot of the mountain. The volcano began to rumble inside the…
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“Whatever you do, do it from the heart, as something done for the Lord and not for people.” (Colossians 3:23, CSB) (This week we are studying various women of the Bible to see what lessons we can learn from their lives. Today, let’s look at Priscilla, a New Testament believer who along with her husband, Aquila, ministered in various ways.) You may know someone who seems to possess numerous talents and abilities and does them all well. They are good at juggling various tasks while smiling the whole time. Wise and caring, they make those around them feel comfortable. I…
“Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not. Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is. And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure.” I John 3:1-3 We did nothing to deserve it, nor did we do anything to…
“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…
“Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.” (Mark 11:24, ESV) Have you ever petitioned God for a need in your life, but it seemed He wasn’t listening or just didn’t care? What about all those “ask and receive” verses in the Bible, you may wonder? Are they really true? If so, why isn’t God answering me? Let’s look at some of the passages in Scripture dealing with prayer to see what we can learn. Step 1: Ask In his book Be a Circle Maker, Mark Batterson states, “The…
