Recent Devotions
Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. Philippians 3:13-14, NIV. You’ve probably heard the quote, “Having a strong end is more important than having a perfect beginning.” Do you agree? When we look at the beginning of Saul’s story, it becomes clear that there was much more to Saul than failure. His story didn’t start in rebellion or pride—it…
“They came to Jericho: and as he went out of Jericho with his disciples and a great number of people, blind Bartimaeus… began to cry out, and say, Jesus, thou Son of David, have mercy on me.” Mark 10:46–47, KJV In this passage we meet Bartimaeus—a blind beggar sitting beside…
Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid. Matthew 5:14. I’m one of those people who love a power outage; I think it’s fun to get off the grid for a few hours, playing a board game, reading a book…
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Psalms 34:18 ESV “The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit.” I’m sure many of us have experienced a situation that left us with a broken heart. I recall one specific break-up in high school that left me with swollen eyes, a bad case of the sniffles, and a heart that felt like it had been shattered into a million pieces. Of course, in high school, this quite literally felt like the end of the world to me. I am glad to report that I have since recovered. There are many different seasons that we will…
And Abraham said unto his young men, Abide ye here with the donkey; and I and the lad will go yonder and worship, and come again to you. Genesis 22:5 The first time worship is mentioned in scripture was when Abraham was obediently following God’s command to offer his son, Isaac, on the altar. Worship, in this instance, was the most difficult thing Abraham ever did. But, it proved that his trust and devotion to God surpassed everything this world had to offer, good or bad. The Bible gives us other examples where people fell and worshipped God after tragedy…
“Thus saith the LORD, Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls. But they said, We will not walk therein.” Jeremiah 6:16 More than any other prophet, Jeremiah preached a message of repentance, calling upon the people to turn from their wickedness and return to the God of their fathers. He reminded them of how God had delivered them in the past and blessed them when they served Him with all their hearts. Now they were facing the consequences…
“They had such a sharp disagreement that they parted company, and Barnabas took Mark with him and sailed off to Cyprus.” (Acts 15:39, CSB) Conflict is painful. Whether it’s within the family, on the job, or in the church, it hurts. Acts 15 relates a painful time in the friendship and ministry of Paul and Barnabas. As they made plans to revisit some of the places where they had ministered on their earlier trip, they had what the Bible describes as a “sharp disagreement.” Their point of contention was whether John Mark, Barnabas’s cousin, should accompany them. John Mark had…
