Tag: Devotional

  • WHERE CREDIT IS DUE

    Reflections on 1 Kings I was once promised a job that was terminated before I could begin. The company unexpectedly closed my division. I felt humiliated and disappointed as I told my family and friends that the great opportunity I’d snagged was gone. When I finally secured a new position, I believed all my hard…

  • MORNING & EVENING

    Why should our exalted Lord appear in his wounds in glory? The wounds of Jesus are his glories, his jewels, his sacred ornaments. To the eye of the believer, Jesus is passing fair because he is “white and ruddy;” white with innocence, and ruddy with his own blood. We see him as the lily of…

  • JUDGING GIFTS

    Connect The TestamentJoshua 9:1-10:15; 2 Corinthians 10:9-18; Psalm 50 Comparing our gifts to those of the person sitting in the next cubicle or pew is dangerous work. Judging ourselves by this standard denigrates or inflates the gifts we’ve been given, leading to either ungratefulness or pride. Because the assessment method is faulty, we will always…

  • LITTLE WHITE LIES

    Reflections on 2 Samuel It’s easy to declare, “Lying is a sin; never lie!” The ninth commandment tells us that God abhors it. And we see King David experience negative consequences for lying in 2 Samuel 11–12. However, a reading of the Old Testament will quickly reveal that “Never lie!” isn’t so clear cut. What…

  • MORNING & EVENING

    Jesus, our Lord, once crucified, dead and buried, now sits upon the throne of glory. The highest place that heaven affords is his by undisputed right. It is sweet to remember that the exaltation of Christ in heaven is a representative exaltation. He is exalted at the Father’s right hand, and though as Jehovah he…

  • THE MISNOMER ABOUT GOD’S WILL

    Connect The TestamentsJoshua 7:1-8:35; 2 Corinthians 10:1-8; Psalm 49:1-20 We often hear a great misnomer about following God’s will. It usually sounds something like this: “God has commanded me to do x, so I’m going to go into x blindly without fear.” A phrase like this has elements of great truth—faith should carry us. But…

  • AN ENTRY-LEVEL KING

    Reflections on 1 Samuel Do you remember your first job? Chances are, it was low paying, low prestige, and if anything like mine, you counted the minutes until quitting time. The best thing about my first job was that I knew it was temporary—I had no doubt that it was not part of my career…

  • MORNING & EVENING

    I know that my Redeemer liveth. Job 19:25 The marrow of Job’s comfort lies in that little word “My”—“My Redeemer,” and in the fact that the Redeemer lives. Oh! to get hold of a living Christ. We must get a property in him before we can enjoy him. What is gold in the mine to…

  • HE’S DEAD, BUT YOU CAN BE ALIVE

    Connect The TestamentsJoshua 1:1-3:17; 2 Corinthians 9:1-5; Psalm 47:1-9 “My servant Moses is dead” (Josh 1:2). Imagine the shock of this moment for Joshua, Moses’ right-hand man. He probably already knew about Moses’ death before God told him (Deut 34:1–8), but it’s in this moment that he really feels the tragedy. If you’ve experienced death,…

  • WHY GOD?

    Reflections on Ruth We have a mental checklist for life. Happy marriage: check. Healthy kids: check. Good reputation: check. Great job: check. Enough money: check. All the pieces are lining up. But then tragedy strikes: The bottom falls out on your finances; you get breast cancer; your spouse dies; or, in my case, you learn…