Archive for the Daily Devotions Category

“Just as you have received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in him, rooted and built up in him …” (Colossians 2:6-7) When I professed my faith in Christ and committed my life to him nearly three decades ago, I used this passage as I talked

“The purposes of a man’s heart are deep waters, but a man of understanding draws them out.” (Proverbs 20:5) The people who knew Simon knew he was impulsive and tended to put his foot in his mouth. But Jesus saw something else in him; that’s why He

“You, though a wild olive shoot, have been grafted in among the others …” (Romans 11:17) In our reading today, the apostle Paul is talking about his own people, Israel, as an olive tree rooted and cultivated by God, and he is speaking to Gentiles, people from

“[Zacchaeus] ran ahead and climbed a sycamore-fig tree to see him, since Jesus was coming that way.” (Luke 19:4) Earlier this month, we read about Gideon, who was called out from under a tree to serve God in a special role (Judges 6). In this story, another

“You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desire. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a

“So Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him till daybreak.” (Genesis 32:24) Why would God let someone wrestle with Him? Because wrestling requires close contact. Jacob was a self-made man with an independent attitude that said, “I don’t need anybody but myself.” How long

“As they pass through the Valley of Baca, they make it a place of springs; the autumn rains also cover it with pools.” (Psalms 84:6) If you were raised in a culture where any show of emotion was considered a sign of weakness, you must learn that

“A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear fruit.” (Isaiah 11:1) Isaiah was speaking to a culture with conflicted values. In some ways it was like our culture today, in which people might gather for worship but are

“And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:7) The word worry comes from a Greek word meaning “to divide the mind”. Worry splits you right down the middle; instead of dwelling on God’s promises,

“I am still confident of this: I will see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living.” (Psalms 27:13) When you choose to see things from God’s perspective, it changes how you feel. The only thing keeping your old negative feelings in place is