Recent Devotions
“And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down, and worshipped him: and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts; gold, and frankincense, and myrrh.” Matthew 2:11 So often when we see Nativity scenes, the wise men from the East are pictured around the manger. But according to the record in Matthew, they did not come to the manger but to a house where Mary and Joseph were residing. They brought gifts of immense value to present to the child Jesus. I am sure that…
“Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.” I John 3:2 Another Christmas season is drawing to a close.…
“And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment. And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. There is none other…
Readers Loved
“Who can find a virtuous woman? For her price is far above rubies.” Proverbs 31:10 Most of us have read or heard this scripture read and, in our minds, have said that it is impossible for a woman to reach the high ideal that is portrayed. The writer of Proverbs said her value was above rubies. I found the following interesting information about rubies in Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia: “The quality of a ruby is determined by its color, cut, and clarity, which, along with carat weight, affect its value. The brightest and most valuable shade of red called blood-red…
Do you ever wonder what it was like to talk to Jesus one-on-one? John 4 gives details of His conversation with a Samaritan woman. He asked her for a drink, and her response put up the guard of the cultural barrier between them. “Jews have no dealings with me.” Most likely she said this while looking at the ground between them. Jesus acknowledged the entirety of her past, but He didn’t berate her for it. He saw the grief of a broken heart. He saw her wounded spirit. He saw self-esteem in shambles. He told her, “If you knew who…
“Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ;” Ephesians 5:20 In our daily walk with the Lord, we often face things that are not exactly like we wish they would be. But if we learn to give thanks regardless of our circumstances, then the Lord gives us joy regardless of our feelings. The more we praise and worship the Lord, the less frightening our circumstances seem. Nothing has changed except we now see the difficulties through the eyes of the Lord. He gives us the grace and strength to…
“For here we have no lasting city, but we seek the city that is to come” (Hebrews 13:14, English Standard Version). We live in a very mobile society. Statistics say on average Americans move slightly more than eleven times during their lifetimes. Europeans average about four moves. Reasons we move vary—job relocations, changes in the family, renting to ownership, moving up or scaling down. If you’re like me, you don’t really enjoy all the sorting and packing, but you’ve probably done it several times already and more moves may be in your future. Various articles describe the best and worst…
