Recent Devotions
There’s something about an impending thunderstorm that heightens the senses. The atmosphere stills as the metallic scent of ozone charges the air. Grass and overhanging branches weighed down with leaves suddenly turn a more vibrant green against the dark grey sky. Lightning forks across the clouds, then the wind churns and dust clouds kick up as fat drops of water begin to pound against the earth. Torrential sheets of rain blow past while thunder vibrates the windows. Then bit by bit, the clouds empty and the downpour slows to a steady stream, then a trickle, and there is quiet. Everything…
“Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it” (Proverbs 22:6). How many times as a child did I hear my mom quote this scripture? In our house, it was said so often we all knew it by…
Raised in a pastor’s home, I was taught to always give thanks, trust God for everything, and pray about everything. Here is my personal story. While in my thirties, I suffered terrible depression. I didn’t realize at the time what it was or how bad it was. I didn’t want…
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“When you go through deep waters, I will be with you. When you go through rivers of difficulty, you will not drown. When you walk through the fire of oppression, you will not be burned up; the flames will not consume you.” Isaiah 43:2 My childhood was not ideal. It wasn’t absolutely terrible, but it wasn’t great either. My coping mechanism (or what I thought was my coping mechanism) was to put up walls and just always expect the worst. I never allowed myself to have hope, because, well.. what was the point? People let me down, my family had…
“And the Lord said, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat: But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren.” Luke 22:31-32. Bold, impetuous Peter, so confident that he would never turn his back on Jesus, that he would go with Him even unto death, did not realize that he was facing one of the biggest tests of his life. Jesus had chosen him for a reason and a purpose. He would be the one who would proclaim the news of…
“He has given me a new song to sing, a hymn of praise to our God. Many will see what he has done and be amazed. They will put their trust in the Lord.” Psalms 40:3 There are many reasons why God chooses to answer or to wait when we bring a need to Him. I have learned a few over the years, and when I say a few I mean a few. Gods ways are higher than ours and we will never be truly able to understand why He does what He does, when He does. He is protecting…
“Dear friend, you are acting faithfully in whatever you do for the brothers and sisters, especially when they are strangers” (III John 5, Christian Standard Bible). Third John, from which the above verse is taken, is a small book of only fourteen verses and addressed to a believer named Gaius. We know little about Gaius, which seems to have been a common name in that time. The New Testament records the name in five places, but they did not refer to the same person. Even though John did not write much about him, it is enough to get a sense…
