Recent Devotions
“But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people” (I Peter 2:9). God’s people have always been special to Him. Exodus 19:5 speaks of them as a “peculiar treasure,” chosen and set apart by God. The word peculiar has several meanings. As a teenager I never took time to check a dictionary. In my mind peculiar meant being strange, weird, or odd. I wondered why I had to be strange to be a Christian. Had I done a little research, I would have discovered that peculiar also means “to have a character exclusively its…
Satisfy us in the morning with your steadfast love, that we may rejoice and be glad all our days. (Psalm 90:14, ESV) Today is Valentine’s Day, a day dedicated to love in many countries around the world. In many places, it is celebrated with gifts, greeting cards decorated with hearts,…
“How often they provoked Him in the wilderness, and grieved Him in the desert! Yes, again and again they tempted God, and limited the Holy One of Israel.” (Psalm 78:40-41, NKJV) Psalm 78 records the faithfulness of God to His people. But this same psalm also records the actions of a…
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“And the king appointed them a daily provision of the king’s meat, and of the wine which he drank… Now among these were of the children of Judah, Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah: Unto whom the prince of the eunuchs gave names…” (Daniel 1:5–7, KJV). “Be on guard. Stand firm in the faith. Be courageous. Be strong” (First Corinthians 16:13, NLT). Most of us know the story of Daniel—the young man taken captive to Babylon and chosen to serve in King Nebuchadnezzar’s royal court. Far from home and surrounded by a foreign language, strange customs, and idol worship, Daniel and…
“There is that maketh himself rich, yet hath nothing: there is that maketh himself poor, yet hath great riches.” (Proverbs 13:7) The Bible has such a marvelous way of turning its spotlight on a seemingly insignificant event or unknown person to teach us a timeless lesson. Mark 12:41-44 is one instance of this. It’s as if the action freezes while God says, “Attention! I want you to see this.” FACES IN THE CROWD That day in the Temple Jesus sat to one side, observing the crowd as they walked past the collection box. The Bible doesn’t say, but let’s imagine…
Then the LORD said to Moses, “Write this for a memorial in the book and recount it in the hearing of Joshua . . . .” (Exodus 17:14, NKJV) I am currently working on a seventy-fifth anniversary history project for my church, and I’m finding it both fascinating and frustrating. It’s fascinating because of the miracles I’m discovering in our church’s history. It’s frustrating because I have questions that can’t be answered. Those with the answers are no longer among us. Someone on this committee jokingly said, “Let’s leave good notes for those who do the hundredth anniversary.” I also have many…
And Eliab his eldest brother heard when he spake unto the men; and Eliab’s anger was kindled against David, and he said, Why camest thou down hither?… I know thy pride, and the naughtiness of thine heart… And David said, What have I now done? Is there not a cause? 1 Samuel 17:28–29. At this juncture of scripture, David has already been anointed to be the next reigning King over Israel. However, he has lived under the radar, caring for his father’s sheep and has been the King’s minstrel when Saul was vexed with an evil spirit. David’s father, Jesse, sent…
