Category: DEVOTIONALS

  • THROUGH DESPAIR

    Connect The Testaments1 Chronicles 23:1-23:32; 2 Timothy 3:1-9; Psalm 88 Sometimes we go through dark periods in our lives where the misery feels never-ending. Trial hits, pain hits, and just when we think life might get “back to normal,” we are hit by yet another difficulty. At times like these, we may feel forgotten by…

  • THE CURE FOR SUFFERING

    Reflections on Romans When I enter my weekly Bible study, I know I’ll hear laughter. Not always from every person, but definitely from John. His laughter is loud and rhythmic—that sort of from-the-gut outburst of emotion. He’ll laugh after a set of worship songs, during a prayer request, or when my two-year-old son runs and…

  • MORNING & EVENING

    Here is a precious truth for thee, believer. Thou mayest be poor, or in suffering, or unknown, but for thine encouragement take a review of thy “calling” and the consequences that flow from it, and especially that blessed result here spoken of. As surely as thou art God’s child today, so surely shall all thy…

  • MATH: MAY NOT BE A MYSTICAL LANGUAGE AFTER ALL

    Connect The Testaments1 Chronicles 21:1-22:19; 2 Timothy 2:14-26; Psalm 86:1-87:7 In a world of metrics, it’s easy to become obsessed with statistics and start to quantify every aspect of our lives. Stats can even become a type of scorekeeping between churches or pastors: “We have more members than you do.” We may never say those…

  • WRITING THE STORY OF YOUR LIFE

    Reflections on Acts of the Apostles Luke recorded years of the early church’s development in his letter to his friend Theophilus (recorded in the books of Luke and Acts). His detailed notes on eyewitness accounts and his own experience bring clarity to the founding of the church and Paul’s ministry. What if he had never…

  • MORNING & EVENING

    Mephibosheth was no great ornament to a royal table, yet he had a continual place at David’s board, because the king could see in his face the features of the beloved Jonathan. Like Mephibosheth, we may cry unto the King of Glory, “What is thy servant, that thou shouldst look upon such a dead dog…

  • A LONGSUFFERING GOD

    Connect The Testaments1 Chronicles 18:1-20:8; 2 Timothy 2:1-13; Psalm 85 God is longsuffering, but sometimes we take this for granted. How often have we given into temptation, expecting to be obedient at a later date? Psalm 85 gives a testimony of God’s faithfulness in the past: “O Yahweh, you favored your land. You restored the…

  • ABIDING IN THE VINE

    Reflections on John’s Gospel “Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me” (John 15:4 ESV). When Jesus first spoke of abiding in him, the disciples were comforted by his poetry and promise. But then…

  • MORNING & EVENING

    Care, even though exercised upon legitimate objects, if carried to excess, has in it the nature of sin. The precept to avoid anxious care is earnestly inculcated by our Saviour, again and again; it is reiterated by the apostles; and it is one which cannot be neglected without involving transgression: for the very essence of…

  • LONGING & BEING

    Connect The Testaments1 Chronicles 16:1-17:27; 2 Timothy 1:3-18; Psalm 84:1-2 The general sense of what worship “is” is widely known, but the specifics of what it means are a little vague. Aside from obedience (i.e., avoiding sin and following what God asks of us), there are specific ways to show God admiration. In 1 Chronicles,…