Recent Devotions
“Moreover it is required in stewards, that a man be found faithful.” I Corinthians 4:2 Today, let’s consider some women in the Bible who were required different things of God, and were obedient to His voice. Ruth – we all know her story and how she was willing to leave behind everything that she knew and journey to another country. She left her family, her gods, and her culture. Because of this she is included in the lineage of Jesus. Hannah – the greatest thing that she desired in life was to have a child. Because of the promise she…
“Now when the turn of Esther, the daughter of Abihail the uncle of Mordecai, who had taken her for his daughter, was come to go in unto the king, she required nothing but what Hegai the king’s chamberlain, the keeper of the women, appointed. And Esther obtained favour in the…
“By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, yea, we wept, when we remembered Zion. We hanged our harps upon the willows in the midst thereof. For there they that carried us away captive required of us a song; and they that wasted us required of us mirth, saying, Sing…
Readers Loved
Job is one of the finest characters in the Old Testament; he was committed to his family, he was faithful to Yahweh, and his resilience to suffering is commendable. However, Job’s friends are criticized harshly for their lack of finesse regarding Job’s torment. At one point, even Job refers to them as miserable comforters (Job 16:2, NRSV). However, Job 2:12–13 reveals a redeeming characteristic and a compelling twist of their attempt to comfort their friend: When they saw him from a distance, they did not recognize him, and they raised their voices and wept aloud; they tore their robes and…
“That our garners may be full, affording all manner of store: that our sheep may bring forth thousands and ten thousands in our streets:” Psalm 144:13. I like to read pioneer stores. In most of them there are references to the way the women prepared for winter by filling their root cellars or storage rooms with food. Everything that was harvested from their gardens or from the fields and woods around them was canned, dried, or preserved in some way for them to have food for the long winter months. When winter came, they were prepared. Each day, they could…
Although a righteous person may fall seven times, he gets up again, but the wicked will be brought down by calamity. (Proverbs 24:16, New English Translation) Anyone who knows me well knows I am a total klutz. I’m sure I was born with some yet undiscovered gene that causes klutziness. I can trip on thin air and have the bumps and bruises to prove it. Meeting the ground in a forceful manner can hurt and at times leave scars. But I pick myself up and go on. Maybe limping for a moment, but I go. I do not just sit…
“May mercy, peace, and love be multiplied to you” (Jude verse 2, English Standard Version). The above verse in Jude sounds like a greeting inside a Christmas card. It’s that time of year when warm thoughts and good wishes surround us. After all, at this season we remember the Child who came as the Prince of Peace to a world desperately needing peace. It was true 2000 years ago when the angels announced His coming, and it is still true today. Jude is a tiny book in the New Testament, only twenty-five verses in all. Yet within this short passage,…
