Recent Devotions
I told them how the hand of my God had been favorable to me and also about the king’s words which he had spoken to me. Then they said, “Let us arise and build.” So they put their hands to the good work. Nehemiah 2:18 NASB To better understand how Nehemiah arrived at this moment, we must first go back in time. We read in 2 Kings 25:1 how “Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon marched against Jerusalem with his whole army.” What follows in the coming days would lead to the destruction of Jerusalem and leave many of its people dead or in…
He replied, “Because you have so little faith. Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.” Matthew 17:20 NIV I’ve often heard this scripture quoted, preached, and…
When the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet, he would know who is touching him and what kind of woman she is—that she is a sinner.” Jesus answered him, “Simon, I have something to tell you.” Luke 7:39-40 ESV In this…
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“All the paths of the LORD are steadfast love and faithfulness, for those who keep his covenant and his testimonies.” (Psalm 25:10, ESV) Do you depend on your phone’s GPS as much as I do? I freely admit that I am directionally challenged. It’s been a lifelong affliction, but I’ve learned to laugh instead of cry when I become lost. That sometimes happens even with a GPS. Recently, I needed to drive a friend to an unfamiliar location. When I checked the route on my phone, it offered three choices. I picked the shortest, fastest route. Isn’t that the logical choice?…
The walls of Jericho seemed indestructible. God gave them instructions as the Israelites stared up at those fortified walls. He didn’t tell them to go up and storm the city; that would have been a suicide mission. Instead, they were directed to walk daily around the city for seven days. They marched, they camped, and they waited for God to move. Each day as they made the long walk, it increased their faith and their expectation that God would move miraculously in their situation. They had a promise. They didn’t question; they knew God was ordering their steps. If the…
“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.” (I Corinthians 9:24, ESV) Cliff Young was a determined man who accomplished what he set out to do. You may not recognize his name. After all, it’s been forty years since the then sixty-one-year-old Australian potato farmer decided to run a multi-day ultra-marathon from Sydney to Melbourne. Unlike the other runners, Cliff sported no fancy running gear, just his usual farm clothes and boots. His “training” was rounding up his 2,000 sheep on foot. Although…
In John 13:34-35 Jesus says, “A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.” This unconditional love is the core aspect of the culture of the Kingdom and one of two core elements of God’s character (see 1 John 4:8,16). The other core element of God’s character is holiness—“Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy” (1 Peter 1:16). The culture of the world would…
