Recent Devotions
It’s a new year and a new day dawns. I love a new year for all it represents: the excitement of ringing out the old and welcoming the new, the wonder of where I’ll go and what I’ll do. Will a dream be fulfilled this year? It’s a time to take stock: Am I living with purpose? Have I released yesteryear once and for all? Hope springs eternal when I look forward, expecting the good. I grew up on the mission field in Norway and Sweden. Europeans view the New Year as a major event. Traditions vary: Spaniards eat one…
Working in my flower garden, I wanted to make room for a beautiful birdbath I purchased. A large, well-established Hosta was smack dab in the perfect place for the birdbath. Well, I made up my mind right then and there that the “in my way” Hosta would be relocated a…
The walls of Jericho seemed indestructible. God gave them instructions as the Israelites stared up at those fortified walls. He didn’t tell them to go up and storm the city; that would have been a suicide mission. Instead, they were directed to walk daily around the city for seven days.…
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“I will love thee, O LORD, my strength. The LORD is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower.” Psalm 18:1-2 David wrote this Psalm of thanksgiving unto the Lord for delivering Him from His enemies. He used many adjectives to describe what God meant to him. He had been pursued by Saul, and at times felt like there was no victory in sight. But he knew that it was God’s plan for him to be king of Israel,…
“But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory both now and forever. Amen.” (II Peter 3:18, NKJV) Sometimes a little phrase in a single verse brings me to a halt in my Bible reading. One morning recently I stopped at the phrase “grow in grace.” I asked myself, am I doing that? And then I began to reflect on what it meant to grow in grace and knowledge. Growth is a process that leads to maturity. It is progressive. Think of the birth of a child. Cute and cuddly but…
“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you . . . Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect.” (Matthew 5:43-44, 48, NKJV) When Jesus gave what we refer to as the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7), He packed a lot into that one discourse. We are familiar with the Beatitudes, but Jesus talked about so…
James 1:22 NLT “But don’t just listen to God’s word. You must do what it says. Otherwise, you are only fooling yourselves.” 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 really fight for their attention, just to be sure that they have indeed heard the words I spoke. To be quite honest, sometimes I’m guilty of doing the exact same thing. I can…
