Category: DEVOTIONALS

  • WHO WILL FIGHT FOR US?

    Connect The TestamentsJudges 1:1-2:10; Philippians 1:1-11; Psalm 61:1-62:12 “Who will go up first for us against the Canaanites to fight against them?” (Judg 1:1). I’ve felt this way before—wondering who will be my advocate in my time of need. It’s ironic that we are surrounded by people, and we have constant access to communication, and…

  • ACCEPTING THE UNEXPECTED

    Reflections on Job After the family business collapsed, my mom scrambled to find work waiting tables so she could feed us. Then, when her aging parents were no longer able to take care of themselves, she shouldered the load as caregiver. Throughout the years, despite mental and physical exhaustion, she never wavered from following God.…

  • MORNING & EVENING

    Lo, the flowery month is come! March winds and April showers have done their work, and the earth is all bedecked with beauty. Come my soul, put on thine holiday attire and go forth to gather garlands of heavenly thoughts. Thou knowest whither to betake thyself, for to thee “the beds of spices” are well…

  • THEY’RE FUTILE; IT ISN’T

    Connect The TestamentsJoshua 22:10-24:33; 2 Corinthians 13:11-14; Psalm 60:1-12 If you knew it was time to die, to say goodbye for good, what would you say? How would your final hoorah sound? In an episode of Northern Exposure, Dr. Joel Fleischman is convinced that he is dying. Joel, who is usually conservative, begins risking everything:…

  • REDEEMING DISILLUSION

    Reflections on Esther Esther’s plan for her life likely didn’t look like God’s plan—she probably didn’t count on becoming a concubine to the king and then the king’s wife. But in a seemingly hopeless situation, God used Esther to save his people from destruction; his plan was bigger than Esther likely ever imagined. Sometimes there…

  • MORNING & EVENING

    There are murmurers amongst Christians now, as there were in the camp of Israel of old. There are those who, when the rod falls, cry out against the afflictive dispensation. They ask, “Why am I thus afflicted? What have I done to be chastened in this manner?” A word with thee, O murmurer! Why shouldst…

  • EXAMINE THYSELF

    Connect The TestamentsJoshua 21:1-22:9; 2 Corinthians 13:1-10; Psalm 59:1-17 Before advising others on how they should act, self-examination is always necessary. When the Corinthians questioned the authenticity of Paul and his colleagues’ ministry (which is ironic, since he had planted their church), Paul says to them: “Test yourselves to see if you are in the…

  • WHEN ALL ELSE FAILS

    Reflections on Nehemiah “I’m leaving her; I’m getting a divorce.” I nearly dropped the phone. I knew things had been bad, but I had blindly assumed that they were working through their issues. After all, it was their first year of marriage. Everyone’s first year is tough. I had grossly miscalculated their relational progress, and…

  • MORNING & EVENING

    The path of the Christian is not always bright with sunshine; he has his seasons of darkness and of storm. True, it is written in God’s Word, “Her ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace;” and it is a great truth, that religion is calculated to give a man happiness below…

  • THE SUBTLE SINNER

    Connect The TestamentJoshua 19:10-20:9; 2 Corinthians 12:11-21; Psalm 57:1-58:11 Some sins slip through the cracks—the ones that emerge in hushed tones between like-minded Christians. Sometimes these sins seem respectable because they occur out of supposed concerns for the Church or others. But they can leave deep gashes in the life of a community because they…