Today's Devotion
On the day I am writing this, a weather alert has been issued for our area. We have already had hail. Freezing rain is predicted for the next few hours, accompanied by high winds. Schools have been closed for the day, and people have been asked to stay off the highways unless it is necessary. Hydro crews are prepared to deal with power outages, and all emergency crews are on high alert. But here in my apartment, I feel secure. I have battery-operated lights if the power does go out. Extra clothing and blankets are available if the heat fails.…
“While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night, shall not cease.” (Genesis 8:22, ESV) As I look out my window today, I see gray skies and the promise of snow. The apple tree I enjoy watching coming to life each spring is still bare and lacks beauty. It seems this winter has been especially long and cold. While some of my friends love these cold, snowy days, I do not. I adapt to summer’s heat more easily than to winter’s cold. I’m always eager for winter to give way to spring. I…
“Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it . . . So I do not run aimlessly.” (I Corinthians 9:24 and 26, ESV) I am not a morning person, but occasionally I find myself out in the pre-dawn hours as I drive a friend to the airport for an early flight. It amazes me when I see a lone figure up ahead determinedly jogging. I wonder at the passion that compels someone to be out at such an early hour just to run.…
“One thing have I desired of the Lord, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to enquire in His temple.” Psalm 27:4 I deeply treasure my alone time with God. There is intimacy in the secret place that cannot be replicated. Yet, there is also something uniquely precious about gathering with the body of Christ. When I worship beside fellow believers, I am strengthened because their faith stirs mine, and their praise reminds me that I am not…
“If one bear holy flesh in the skirt of his garment, and with his skirt do touch bread, or pottage, or wine, or oil, or any meat, shall it be holy? And the priests answered and said, No. Then said Haggai, If one that is unclean by a dead body touch any of these, shall it be unclean? And the priests answered and said, It shall be unclean.” Haggai 2:12–13, KJV. The book of Haggai is written to the Jewish people who had finally returned home after seventy years of Babylonian exile. They were given the sacred privilege of rebuilding…
