Today's Devotion
Martin Luther wrote, “Our Lord has written the promise of the resurrection, not in books alone, but in every leaf in spring-time.” At the end of every winter, we witness a miracle—life coming from death. Bare branches form green leaves, brown grass turns into a lovely meadow as spring blooms in dazzling beauty. The warm breezes whisper, “Come alive!” The evidence of resurrection happens before our eyes every year. Spring never fails to produce new life, springing forth from what was dead. It’s the perfect setting for Easter—the season we celebrate the Resurrection of Jesus – the hope of the…
“Better is the end of a thing than its beginning, and the patient in spirit is better than the proud in spirit.” Ecclesiastes 7:8 ESV Growing up, I understood pride to fall into one category, vanity. To me, pride was to look in the mirror and admire your beauty, intelligence, and strength. I’ve learned, though, that pride is a tricky thing and usually shows up in ways less subtle than staring into a mirror. One example of the subtly of pride is the belief that we know more about our lives than God does, and because of this, we disregard His…
Prayer, the act of talking to our Creator, is something I did not understand for years. I thought prayer was something done in certain places — prayer rooms, church buildings, our living room. I thought it was something done at certain times — prayer time at church, prayer meetings at church, altar services after a church service. I thought it was only done in one way — with a loud voice and the use of repetitive words, much like chanting. But I was wrong. Prayer, the communication of my soul with the almighty God of the universe, cannot be confined to just a few…
“Now then, please swear to me by the LORD that, as I have dealt kindly with you, you also will deal kindly with my father’s house, and give me a sure sign . . . “Behold, when we come into the land, you shall tie this scarlet cord in the window through which you let us down, and you shall gather into your house your father and mother, your brothers, and all your father’s household.” (Joshua 2:12 and 18, ESV) After years of wandering, the time had come for the children of Israel to move into the land God had promised.…
Exodus 2:6, “When she (Pharaoh’s daughter) had opened it, she saw the child: and, behold, the babe wept. And she had compassion on him, and said, This is one of the Hebrews’ children.” I believe that Moses’ mother had great faith in God. I can only assume that she was strategic and that the decisions she made were purposeful. The Bible isn’t descriptive about this instance, but I believe that Jochebed didn’t haphazardly wake up one morning and randomly make an ark of bulrushes. She was probably preparing for this day for months, to give her son the best chance…
