Posts with the category “devotional”

“In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. (This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) And everyone went to their own town to register. So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David.”Luke 2:1-4...  Read More

“And Mary said, “My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has looked on the humble estate of his servant. For behold, from now on all generations will call me blessed; for he who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is his name. And his mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation. He has shown strength with his arm; he has scattered ...  Read More

“In those days Mary arose and went with haste into the hill country, to a town in Judah, and she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. And when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the baby leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit, and she exclaimed with a loud cry, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb!”Luke 1:39-42Christmas ...  Read More

“And the angel answered her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy—the Son of God.”Luke 1:35I have this terrible habit of self-reliance. I tend to think if that if I want something done right, I have to do it myself. This is simply not the case. I do some things well, but for many things, there ar...  Read More

As has just been said: “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as you did in rebellion.”Hebrews 3:15One of the biggest arguments among entire denominations of Christians is whether God still speaks today. Does He communicate with us personally or does He only communicate with us through his written word? The God of the Bible most certainly speaks through his written word. No true ...  Read More

“But you, beloved, building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life. And have mercy on those who doubt;”Jude 20-22In his short letter, Jude packs a lot of powerful ideas. One of the most powerful, is the idea of praying in the Holy Spirit. Now for someone who ...  Read More

“For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands, for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.”2nd Timothy 1:6-7Whenever Christmas approaches, my kids get really excited. The mailers come in and the kids immediately grab them and start making their “wish lists.” They spend hours staring at the differe...  Read More

“I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.”Ephesians 4:1-3In these last days, I believe there is a call from the Spirit of God to his church to find unity. Paul’s plea to the ...  Read More

“Oh that one of you would shut the temple doors, so that you would not light useless fires on my altar! I am not pleased with you,” says the Lord Almighty, “and I will accept no offering from your hands.”Malachi 1:10Recently I heard someone describe sacrifices as “the way we draw near to God.” In the Old Testament, they would sacrifice an animal on the altar in order to draw close to God. In the N...  Read More

"Therefore say to them, Thus declares the Lord of hosts: Return to me, says the Lord of hosts, and I will return to you, says the Lord of hosts."Zechariah 1:3Everything God does is based in relationship. He desires relationship with you. He seeks it out. When you look at the theme for the Bible, it's a book built upon relationship - God's relationship with man.In the Old Testament, Israel constant...  Read More

"I am weary with my moaning; every night I flood my bed with tears; I drench my couch with my weeping. My eye wastes away because of grief; it grows weak because of all my foes. Depart from me, all you workers of evil, for the Lord has heard the sound of my weeping. The Lord has heard my plea; the Lord accepts my prayer. All my enemies shall be ashamed and greatly troubled; they shall turn back an...  Read More

"Turn, O Lord, deliver my life; save me for the sake of your steadfast love. For in death there is no remembrance of you; in Sheol who will give you praise?"Psalm 6:4-5Often we find ourselves in the same place as David, we are surrounded by our troubles. What are the things that are troubling you today? Where have you found anxiety in your heart?David spent years in hiding, fearing for his life. H...  Read More

"O Lord, rebuke me not in your anger, nor discipline me in your wrath. Be gracious to me, O Lord, for I am languishing; heal me, O Lord, for my bones are troubled. My soul also is greatly troubled. But you, O Lord—how long?"Psalm 6:1-3For some people, they have trouble seeing that God, as seen in the person of Jesus, could be wrathful. They see a disconnect between the Old Testament and the New. I...  Read More

“While they were still talking about this, Jesus himself stood among them and said to them, ‘Peace be with you.’ They were startled and frightened thinking they saw a ghost. He said to them, ‘Why are you troubled, and why do doubts rise in your minds? Look at my hands and my feet. It is I myself! Touch me and see; a ghost does not have flesh and bones, as you see I have.” Luke 24:36-39Jesus promis...  Read More

“Give ear to my words, O Lord; consider my groaning. Give attention to the sound of my cry, my King and my God, for to you do I pray. O Lord, in the morning you hear my voice; in the morning I prepare a sacrifice for you and watch.”Psalm 5:1-3There’s a lot of debate in my house as to verses that encourage us to seek God in the morning. For some of us, having to get up any earlier than normal is th...  Read More

One of the Pharisees asked him to eat with him, and he went into the Pharisee’s house and reclined at table. And behold, a woman of the city, who was a sinner, when she learned that he was reclining at table in the Pharisee’s house, brought an alabaster flask of ointment, and standing behind him at his feet, weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears and wiped them with the hair of her head...  Read More

“Looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.” Hebrews 12:2“If we think love is not worth sorrow or pain, then we are more pagan than Christian.” I read this quote in an article recently on the four types of love as described by CS Lewis and most certai...  Read More

“Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.”James 1:2-4When you see an elderly couple together who have been married for 50 plus years, you might be tempted to think, how did those two people manage to s...  Read More

“But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word.”Acts 6:4At our church we believe that every person is a minister, but that doesn’t mean every ministry is the same. In the New Testament church, you see several different types of ministries, but everyone is involved as ministers.In the early church, the explosive growth had led to some big problems. One of the biggest proble...  Read More

When we pray we have an ally - The Holy Spirit. Some of us have either forgotten about this very important ally or we never knew He helps us in our prayers. In Romans, Paul says that the Spirit helps us in our weakness by praying through us essentially. Now, I want to make a note of something here, we first have to realize our weakness in prayer. When we come to God in prayer, we must come in a place of weakness.   Read More

“And when you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces that their fasting may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, that your fasting may not be seen by others but by your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.”Matthew 6:16-18One of th...  Read More

“Behold, you fast only to quarrel and to fight and to hit with a wicked fist. Fasting like yours this day will not make your voice to be heard on high.”Isaiah 58:4Many of us will enter into a fast hoping to see something change in the world. When we start to fast, our prayer list might grow. We might long to see change in politics or in communities or even in our own neighborhood. These prayers ar...  Read More

But I rejoiced in the Lord greatly, that now at the last your care of me hath flourished again; wherein ye were also careful, but ye lacked opportunity. 11 Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content. 12  I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound: every where and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hu...  Read More

"In peace I will both lie down and sleep; for you alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety." -Psalm 4:8Recently, I made a statement that true rest comes from relationship with God. In fact, I believe that so much so, that I will expand on it here. You cannot find real rest anywhere apart from God. God invented rest. He was the first person to rest. Rest was his idea, if you will.For me, I feel like ...  Read More

"You have put more joy in my heart than they have when their grain and wine abound." - Psalm 4:7We used to sing a song as kids about having joy, joy, joy down in our hearts. The Psalmist coined the term. David here is in the midst of being surrounded by his enemies and disgruntled followers and somehow he has joy in his heart. Too often when I evaluate my own heart, I don't see the same thing that...  Read More

"There are many who say, “Who will show us some good? Lift up the light of your face upon us, O Lord!” - Psalm 4:6Have you ever dealt with someone that is impossible to please? I would say almost all of us have. In fact, some of us are probably that person right now! And others may be married to that person (please don't tag your spouse). When dealing with people who are disgruntled, you can feel ...  Read More

"Offer right sacrifices, and put your trust in the Lord." - Psalm 4:5The message of the church is the message that David has here for his enemies. Remember David is surrounded by people who are seeking to kill him and his message isn't "I'm getting ready to slaughter all of you" but it's a message of repentance.David says to his enemies essentially, repent. Repent, turn to God. Offer right sacrifi...  Read More

"Be angry, and do not sin; ponder in your own hearts on your beds, and be silent. Selah" - Psalm 4:4Anger is a tough topic. One of the biggest issues with anger can be it's propensity to lead towards violence. Anger can be incredibly hard to deal with for most people. I've met people with extreme anger issues. They fly off the handle at the smallest of things. And the Bible is clear in many other ...  Read More

"But know that the Lord has set apart the godly for himself; the Lord hears when I call to him." - Psalm 4:3Have you ever prayed and felt like your words were bouncing off the ceiling? I know I have. There have been many times in my life where I wasn't sure the Lord was listening to me. I would pray faithfully, but the only response I got was silence.The truth of the matter, though, was that God d...  Read More

"O men, how long shall my honor be turned into shame? How long will you love vain words and seek after lies? Selah"- Psalm 4:2One of the hardest things most people ever go through is betrayal. When you are betrayed, the sting seems to never end. Every thought and every mention of the person who betrayed you brings back so much pain. And the result of that is that most of us shut down. We don't wan...  Read More

"Answer me when I call, O God of my righteousness! You have given me relief when I was in distress. Be gracious to me and hear my prayer!" - Psalm 4:1One of the most troublesome places to be in life is when it seems like your prayers are going unanswered. You cry out for the Lord to answer and sometimes all you receive is silence.I recently heard someone say that silence is God's first language. W...  Read More

"Arise, O Lord! Save me, O my God! For you strike all my enemies on the cheek; you break the teeth of the wicked. Salvation belongs to the Lord; your blessing be on your people! Selah." Psalm 3:7-8Have you ever wondered about the fierce love that God has for you? Do you believe that he even loves that way? Most preachers stay away from verses like this because of the implication - God is not a hip...  Read More

"I lay down and slept; I woke again, for the Lord sustained me. I will not be afraid of many thousands of people who have set themselves against me all around." Psalm 3:5-6Fear is a powerful emotion. It's controlling. It grabs us and won't let go. David in Psalm 3, has every right to be fearful. He is surrounded by those that want to do him harm. In fact he says he's surrounded by thousands who ha...  Read More

"But you, O Lord, are a shield about me, my glory, and the lifter of my head. I cried aloud to the Lord, and he answered me from his holy hill. Selah"- Psalm 3:3-4A while ago, I heard Dr. Henry Cloud talking about tears. He said that it was interesting to him that God decided to place our tear ducts on our face and not on our arm pits. If they were in our arm pits, he says, we could easily hide ou...  Read More

"O Lord, how many are my foes! Many are rising against me; many are saying of my soul, “There is no salvation for him in God. Selah." Psalm 3:1-2When it comes to deceiving people, I believe one of the primary ways that the enemy does that is by getting us to believe we are all alone and that God isn't going to save us. In Psalm 3, David is a terrible position, his son has betrayed him and is rally...  Read More

"Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling." Psalm 2:11The Psalmist offers this advice to those of us who may take serving the Lord lightly. For those that may abuse his grace, the Psalmist admonishes us to serve the Lord with fear. This isn't an unhealthy fear, but a reverence.When we approach God, there must be a holy reverence in our interactions with Him. He is the King of the Unive...  Read More

"Now therefore, O kings, be wise; be warned, O rulers of the earth." Psalm 2:10The road to the house that I grew up in was curvy. There were some pretty tight turns on the road, but because it was a main road at one time going from one city to the next, the speed limit on the road was 55. When I turned 16, my first car was a Geo Storm. It was not that great of a car, but it was pretty low to the g...  Read More

"You shall break them with a rod of iron and dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.” - Psalm 2:9Perhaps you have heard of Aesop's fable of the Oak Tree and the Reed. In this fable, the Oak Tree is proud of who he is and he says to the reed, "look at me, I am a strong oak tree, I am unmovable. You are a small reed; you bend and sway with the slightest of breezes. Nothing can blow me over, I'm ...  Read More

"For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery." Galatians 5:1The Fourth of July is a day that we celebrate our independence as a nation. We broke free from England's rule and established ourselves as a free country, able to choose our own destiny. We celebrate with barbecues and fireworks.Today our country is struggling with whether we are ...  Read More

"Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage, and the ends of the earth your possession." Psalm 2:8If you could ask God for one thing, what would it be? Would it be money? Power? Wealth? There have been many people who have treated God like a genie in a lamp. They expect for Him to grant their wildest wishes and get mad when he seemingly doesn't respond.But what if there was something God...  Read More