Clean Hands Pure Heart

When I explained to our grandson that Papa Gary had gone to be with Jesus in heaven, the five-year-old asked, “How did he do that?”  How might we approach God and stay in His holy presence?  Who has the privilege of ascending His holy mountain and basking in His holy presence?  Only those with clean hands and pure heart.  Only those who have been washed in the blood of Christ Jesus. May you know Him, may you seek Him, may He dwell within you, may He fully transform you.  Amen

Teaching Obedience

We are called to obedience to Christ Jesus’ holy word and, as the collective Body of Christ, we are called to go everywhere making disciples and teaching everyone who is being transformed in and through Christ Jesus to observe His holy commands.  As individuals we are not each called to go everywhere, but we are called to serve where we are. I fail at this every day.  But these are our marching orders given by our Lord and Savior.  By His mercy and grace, may we each be faithful to His holy calling.  Amen.

Ministry of Reconciliation

God’s holy word reminds us that everyone who is in Christ Jesus is a new creation.  The old has passed away.  This is an amazing gift from God.  He is merciful and gracious.  Through Christ Jesus, we are made new, we are given new life, and we are reconciled with God the Father, and He gives us “the ministry of reconciliation” (2 Corinthians 5:18).

God’s Promise of Relationship

Throughout Scripture we see God, the holy Creator of everything with power beyond our ability to imagine, desiring relationship with humans.  And He promises over and over His desire for us to be His people and His desire to be our God.  He desires to dwell with us and in us.  He desires relationship with us.  We must merely surrender fully to Christ Jesus and allow His holy transformation of our hearts to occur.  He wants to be our God.  He wants to be your God.  He wants each of us to be His.  I pray we each have eyes to see and ears to hear His holy message to His people.  Amen.

Gold Refined by Fire

Focused on eternity, Jesus urges members of the congregation to “buy from me gold refined by fire, so that you may be rich…” (Revelation 3:18).  Jesus alone is the cure.  Jesus alone offers true, satisfying and lasting wealth.  And we purchase His gold by surrendering ourselves to Him, by offering ourselves as holy living sacrifices, by relinquishing prideful delusions of self-righteousness, by following Him.

O God

Each generation must hear and believe and choose follow.  It is up to us.  We must proclaim God’s awesomeness, His power, His glory to everyone around us, so the next generation might hear and know and follow.

Joy of Christ Jesus

Joy is an attribute of Christ Jesus’ holy indwelling within us.  One of the many positive qualities occurring with people within whom He abides is that His joy permeates within them.  Joy is an element of His presence. Jesus makes remarkable promises.  No matter what you are going through, you have access to His joy.  His joy permeates those who dwell in him.

Perfecter of Faith

Jesus is the founder and perfecter of our faith.  After He bestows the gift of faith upon us, He continues working within us, growing, strengthening, and perfecting our faith.  Faith is a gift from Christ Jesus, and as we move from infancy to maturity in faith, with His holy presence growing increasingly within us, our spirits and souls are continuously transformed, gradually made holier, moving toward sanctification.  It is Christ Jesus, not us.  It is His holy presence, His being, Him abiding within us, gradually transforming us into His holy image. 

Looking to Jesus

Looking to Jesus.  It is at once simple and daunting and effective.  It begins with turning to Jesus, which is the heart of repentance, and then continuously fixing our gaze on Him.  By looking to Him we are saved, yet this is no mere glance.

Humble Heart

Jesus showed the Canaanite woman mercy because of her humble faith revealed through bold action.  She boldly begged Him for help from a position of total, absolute humility. 

Truth in a Post-Truth World

We have unprecedented access to God’s holy word, which is the truth.  If we fail to hear, understand, speak, and obey His holy word, we are not of the truth, and God will reject and forsake us. 

Merry Christmas!

God became flesh and lived on earth.  Jesus was fully human and fully God.  Take a moment and let that sink in.  Jesus was fully human and fully God. After living on earth for a time, He voluntarily died for us and conquered death. These are the most significant events in human history because Jesus is God.

God Helps Us Repent

The message of repentance runs throughout Scripture.  God calls everyone to repent, to turn to Him. 

A Few Promises - Full Audio

God’s great plan of salvation begins with God the Father, flows through Christ Jesus, and ultimately those who He transforms are in Him.

Rebellion and Divination

Jesus says those who believe will do His works on earth, and those who love Him will keep His commandments.  It is possible some, if not many, claim association with Him yet do neither.

Righteousness

Let’s briefly consider some of the other passages that lead me to see the process as follows:  when we believe we relinquish our old life and receive new life in and through Christ Jesus, and the Holy Spirit takes up residence within our spirits starting the process of spiritual transformation leading to gradually increasing holiness, righteousness and Godliness.  Our new life reveals itself through our actions, which include hospitability and compassion.  Hospitality does not replace righteousness as the standard; rather, hospitality is one aspect of the totality of physical evidence revealing our new life in Christ Jesus.

Walking in Faith

God’s holy word describes Christ Jesus as the founder and perfecter of our faith (see Hebrews 12:2).  Faith starts with God.  Salvation starts with God.  Sanctification is through God’s holy grace.  We cause none of it.  It all begins with God and leads to God glorified.  Praise be to God!

Lying Spirits

Scripture contains quite a few stories that shock our conscience.  Today, we will consider one that is particularly shocking because it describes God in a heavenly council meeting, authorizing an evil lying spirit to speak through prophets, with the goal of leading King Ahab to his destruction.  The evil lying spirit went out into the world with God’s permission, did what it does, and God’s will was accomplished through it – his judgment was enacted.

Threads

In two paragraphs in 2 Kings 2 we see a thread of God’s presence, power, provision, promise and purpose running from Moses to Joshua to Elijah to Elisha to Jesus to the Apostles to the church, which includes us.  The thread of God demonstrating His presence and power through His people runs from Moses to us here today.  This is a message of incredible hope that should give you the confidence to face whatever it is that God calls you to face today.

Wisdom

Fear of the Lord is wisdom.  Fear of the Lord is an essential condition allowing the formation of wisdom.  God’s holy word leads to wisdom.  Jesus is the Word.  He is the way, the truth and the life.  He is wisdom for us.  As we grow closer to Him, evidence of our wisdom will be evident to people around us through our purity, peacefulness, gentleness, mercy and love.  Wisdom is not intellectual, it is spiritual.

Fear, Faith & Eyes to See

As I recently read accounts of the prophet Elisha’s many adventures in 2 Kings, I once again saw this remarkable story of Elisha’s faith while he was surrounded by the Syrian army sent to capture (or kill?) him.  The threat was real, tangible and imminent.  It took the form of soldiers, horses, chariots, swords, bows and arrows, all focused on Elisha, yet he trusted God and he asked God to open his servant’s eyes so that his servant might see and have faith as well.  And God responded in remarkable ways.

Bittersweet

As the angel hands him the scroll, the angel tells John to eat it.  The angel says it will taste sweet like honey, but it will make his stomach bitter.  John eats it, and sure enough, it tastes sweet, but it makes his stomach bitter. The heavenly words taste sweet, but after he ingests them and they take root in his being and they permeate his body, soul and spirit, he feels sick to his stomach. 

Shocking Change

The parable involves trees planted to bear fruit but are barren.  Barren fruit trees are removed and replaced with fruitful trees.  In the context of the conversation about sudden death and judgment, and Jesus urging His listeners to repent, the message is clear.  God plants us here on earth to bear fruit, so we should serve His will with every breath He grants us.

Sabbath Rest

The Sabbath is a gift from God.  It is the seventh day set aside as a holy day of rest, worship and communion with God.  He gives us a break from the world to commune with Him.  But how do we view it?  Are we like the shop owners in Amos’ day begrudgingly going along with the rules, reluctantly going to church and refraining from work for so long as the law requires?  Or do we long for and delight in the opportunity to gather worshiping God, relishing our time of truly entering God’s holy rest, basking in His glory?  What is the Sabbath to you?

The Dividing Line

The gospel is the line separating humanity.  Paul refers to one side of the line as the world – natural people, those who are perishing, those who do not hear, are unable to hear, or intentionally reject the word of the cross.  Those on the other side of the line are spiritual people, brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus, the church, the redeemed, the bearers of new life, those who are being saved through the gospel by the power of God.

Excerpt - God’s Purpose

God delivers people from bondage for a purpose.  He has plans for you and me.  Throughout Scripture, God explains that He delivers people from bondage so that they, we, you might enjoy relationship with Him.  God explains this time and time again. 

Holy Week Teaching

Jesus explains in detail how religious leaders of the day served themselves at the expense of the people they should have been serving.  Jesus knew they were not beyond redemption.  They needed to hear the truth and perhaps, after they saw all the miraculous signs of Good Friday – the darkness at midday, the earthquake, the tombs open – and after they saw His resurrection that would come that Sunday, perhaps they would gain eyes to see.  He was planting seeds that would possibly grow, as He does with us.

Nothing But the Blood

Through Christ’s blood, we have redemption, we are reconciled with God, we gain eternal life, we are cleansed from sin, we are forgiven.  All of this was foreshadowed in the Torah, and Jesus directly referred to two of the images by sharing in the Passover feast and referring to His cup as blood of the new covenant. “What can wash away my sin? Nothing but the blood of Jesus.”  Amen.

Life and Death

Jesus discusses our spiritual condition while living apart from Him as being in God’s wrath, being dead, living in condemnation.  Jesus’ holy word is the judge.  Jesus is the Word.  He is the standard.  He is the dividing line who separates people into two groups – those who believe and those who do not.  May you know Christ Jesus, may you follow Him, may you obey Him, may you tell others the good news that is Him.  Amen.

Seeking God’s Heart

Both Saul and David made horrific choices.  In fact, David’s choices look far worse than Saul’s, yet God rejected Saul not David because David sought God’s heart. If God required perfection before humans could taste His favor, He would have only favored one, His unique Son, Christ Jesus.  But perfection is not the requirement.  According to His holy word, “The Lord has sought out a man after his own heart…” (1 Samuel 13:14). God seeks those who long for Him. 

Fear of God

Two events recently caused me to consider whether I fear God and, moreover, whether we should fear God.  They caused me to stop and consider my worldview God’s place in it.  Do I fear Him?  My initial reaction was “no, not to the extent I should,” and I suspected that I had become desensitized to His awesomeness.  Had I become enamored with the concept of relationship with Him, perhaps overly so, without really thinking of Him in terms of respect, awe, or fear?

The Love

He prays for our glorious transformation with specific purposes in mind.  Twice in the passage above Jesus says, “so that the world… so that the world….”  To help us along that incredible path, Jesus gives us His glory.  The glory that God the Father gave to Jesus, Jesus gives to us for three purposes: 1) so that we might be one, 2) so that we might dwell in God the Father and Christ Jesus, and 3) “so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me” (John 17:23).

The Glory

After the Last Supper, before walking across the Kidron Valley to the garden where Jesus will surrender to guards, Jesus pauses to pray the amazing chapter-long prayer recorded as John 17, and His prayer is all about the glory and its purposes.  Jesus asks God the Father to glorify Him for the world to see and know and believe.  Jesus gives His glory to believers for their unification, and He wants them to be one so the world will see and know and believe.  It is all about God’s great mission here on earth.

The Hour

By saying “lifted up from the earth,” Jesus knew He would soon be crucified.  And now, as Jesus starts praying, He says, “Father, the hour has come….”  His incarceration, trial, torture, crucifixion, death, resurrection … none of it was a surprise.  God used evil people fulfilling their evil intent to accomplish His holy will.

The Shepherd

Jesus explains that He is God in a variety of ways.  He claims to be owner of the sheep, He says He has authority over life, He says “I and the Father are one,” and He says “the Father is in me and I am in the Father.”  But they do not hear.  They simply cannot see that He is God.  They see Him as a blasphemous man who was either crazy or demon-possessed, but certainly not God.  And those are really the options we are left with.  Was He a madman during His earthly ministry or is He God?  Who do you see Him to be?

Seek and Worship

The good news of Christ Jesus changes everyone who hears it.  Some seek and worship.  Others are curious.  Some respond with evil intent.  Jesus says, “Everyone then who hears these words of mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on rock” (Matthew 7:24).  What is your response? 

Joyous Christmas

My three-year-old grandson likely has no idea that God’s holy word urges us to rejoice, but he knows joy.  He exudes joy through his beautiful smile, the way he sings and the happy way he carries himself through the world.  May we each be infected with his spirit of joy.  May our spirit rejoice like Mary’s.  May we rejoice in all circumstances like Paul.  May we know the joy of his holy jolly season today and always.  Amen.

Repent

As you consider the world around you and God’s desire to capture our attention, please know that He is in control.  He is sovereign.  He has all power and authority everywhere.  Turn to Him.  Pray.  Study His holy word. Serve the holy One by showing His love, light and life to everyone you encounter.  And always be ready to share the good news of Christ Jesus to people around you. 

Read the full devotional here.

Promise and Anointing

During the Exodus we see a remarkable event foreshadowing God’s release of the Holy Spirit during the Pentecost described in Acts 2.

Read the full devotional here.

Boundaries

God is truly sovereign, and He carries out His will, sometimes through ordinary means and sometimes through remarkable turns.  We know that no matter what we are going through, God is in control.  May God keep you, may He shine His light on and through you, may He give you His peace.  Amen.

Read the full devotional here.

Words of Life

Once we see that Jesus is God, His words and actions carry greater significance.  By demonstrating His control over nature, we see that He truly is life, His words truly are spirit and life, and we live by His holy word.

Read the full devotional here.

New Life

Jesus came to earth with a multifaceted mission statement that involved nothing less than changing everything.

Read the full devotional here.

What the Lord Hates

Does it surprise you to hear that God hates anything? God is patient, kind, merciful and just. He is love (see 1 John 4:8). Love and life are His essence. He loves the world, and desires everyone to turn away from evil, turn to Him and live through Christ Jesus.

Read the full devotional here.

Testimony of the Healed

In what specific ways have you and your life been transformed by God’s holy grace through Christ Jesus? What was your life like before? What is it like now? Like the bind man’s testimony, your testimony is important, and it will be used by God to remove the veil from someone’s eyes so that they too will see the Truth of Christ Jesus. Share it generously.

Read the full devotional here.

Sending the Prophet Away

The drought was God’s judgment for Israel’s repeated cycle of evil and God’s decision to send Elijah to a foreign land to minister to gentiles was an indication that God had removed His favor from Israel. How did God’s chosen people, the people of the covenant, get to that awful place? What does this mean for us today?

Read the full devotional here.

Have It Your Way

In what ways are we, as individuals and as a nation, rebelling against God, rejecting God, angering God?

Read the full devotional here.

Counted as Lawless

Do you believe Jesus is the Messiah? Jesus points the disciples and us to Isaiah 53, the most shocking and graphic Messianic prophecy, explaining what is about to happen to Him, explaining why, and presenting it all as pre-ordained by God the Father.

Read the full devotional here.

Testing God

God’s people asked, “Is the Lord among us or not?” (Exodus 17:7).  What caused them to ask such a question? 

Read the full devotional here.

Eternal Christ

Who is Jesus?  Who is Jesus to you?  May you know who He is.  May you receive His gift of life.  May you confess Him as Lord of your life.  May your life indicate evidence of your transformed spirit.  Amen.

Read the full devotional here.

Reconciliation and Suffering

We know the good news of Christ Jesus, we know the Holy Spirit takes up residence within us the moment we believe, we know we are forgiven and reconciled with God, but how does all that relate to my suffering?

Read the full devotional here.

Encountering God

Think about your first encounter with God.  Where were you, what were you doing when God grabbed you and forced you to realize that He is real, that He is really with you, that He is really present and really near?  When did you gain intimate knowledge of Him in your soul – I am not talking intellectual knowledge, rather genuine knowing through relationship.  When were your eyes opened?

Read the full devotional here.

Jesus’ Prayer Life

As we look at how Jesus lived, we see that it is important to find time to be alone in prayer every day. Jesus was always finding time to be alone in prayer. He got up early, while it was still dark, to sneak off alone to pray. He stayed up late and stayed out alone at night in prayer. On certain occasions He prayed all night alone. His life was bathed in prayer.

Read the full devotional here.

More Alive Than Ever

Pondering life and death, our purpose here on earth, the importance of seizing God’s saving grace while we still have breath in our bodies, and our responsibility to diligently spread the gospel, I am reminded of a quote attributed to D.L. Moody.  While he lived on earth, he said,"Some day you will read in the papers that D.L. Moody of East Northfield, is dead. Don't you believe a word of it! At that moment I shall be more alive than I am now….”

Read the full devotional here.

A Voice in the Wilderness

God is actively at work molding, directing, transforming us for our good and His glory.  He allows us to travel through darkness so we will stop relying on ourselves and trust Him.  He actively works through the darkness, in the wilderness, transforming our hearts.  What wilderness are you in now?  Please know that God is with you.  He is active.  You are not alone.

Read the full devotional here.

Thy Will Be Done

Each time we pray the Lord’s Prayer, we pray, “Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” We have prayed the words most of our lives. Knowing that God often works through His ambassadors on earth, how often do we ask God to reveal specific ways He desires to use each of us in His glorious plan of implementing His will on earth?

Read the full devotional here.

Expectations

Is it possible that God allows us to endure darkness, pain, suffering and challenging times so that we might grow in faith and so that others might see God’s light shine through us?  Is it possible to experience joy during the challenging times? Through God’s holy word we see the answers are yes, yes and yes.

Read the full devotional here.

Our Refuge

As we walk through life, do we expect to encounter difficulties, or do we expect a life filled with trouble-free pleasure? Psalm 46 reminds us to expect times of trouble and to know that God is our refuge and strength. Jesus corroborates the message.  He begins the Sermon on the Mount explaining that God blesses us through troubling situations.

Read the full devotional here.

God’s Testing

Why does God allow us to suffer?  Our best possible life is lived in communion with God.  Through Christ Jesus we gain reconciliation with God, we are justified and forgiven, and as we grow in faith, grow closer to God, and relinquish our worldly baggage, we gain His wholeness, satisfaction, and life abundant.  Each step along the entire process involves radical transformation through Christ Jesus, and our transformation is often painful. 

Read the full devotional here.

Paul’s Prayers - Excerpt from The Point

How do Paul’s prayers help us learn how to pray?  While Paul prayed for physical protection and he prayed for God to remove his thorn, the vast majority of his prayers written in letters interceded for the spiritual transformation of his readers.  His example encourages us to pray for spiritual transformation, to focus on spiritual needs of people around us, and to see the wonderful spiritual gifts available from God.

 Read the full devotional here.

Living Our Best Life

Why does Jesus connect loving Him with obeying His commands? Why does God the Father connect worship with obeying Him, and then double down on the thought by telling us to live in a manner befitting of association with Him? Why? Is God merely an overbearing ogre with nothing better to do? No. He loves us and He wants us to have the best possible life and our best possible life is lived in communion with Him. He desires that we experience His joy, His peace, His rest, His life abundant, His wholeness, and we are only able to do that through communion with Him through Christ Jesus.

Read the full devotional here.

From Darkness to Glory

God has a miraculous plan for human transformation, for regeneration, for bringing dead people to life.  While He transforms according to His sovereign plan, He often waits until we have traveled through darkness.  It is often through darkness that His glory is revealed.

Read full devotional here

The Good Shepherd

Jesus is God.  He is the Good Teacher.  Jesus is the Lord, the gate, the Good Shepherd.  He provides wholeness, satisfaction, fullness, life abundant.  David knew this life and wrote about it in Psalm 23.  Do you?  Have you experienced His green pastures, His good and merciful provision?  May you enter through Him, may you know Him, may you follow Him, may you receive His life abundant, His mercy and His goodness.  Amen.

Read full devotionals here.

Trust God

God uses suffering to shake us up.  He allows us to see that the things of this world are not worthy of our trust, and that only He is worthy.  He alone is the rock, the foundation, our safe place, the One worthy.  Through loss and suffering, God removes the façade, revealing the foundation of our faith – that in which we have actually placed our trust. 

Read full devotional here.

Let Go and Abide

Each breath we take is a gift from God. Every moment we have on earth is a gift from God. I ponder it all seeing two sides of the coin. I see God’s sovereign power and grace and control, knowing that He’s got it. I also see the great responsibility we share as Christ Jesus sends us to go and bear fruit. Life is so incredibly short, what am I doing with the gift of life that I have? Our purpose is to glorify God on earth. How am I doing that today?

Read full devotional here.

Glory to God

God created us for His glory.  Our purpose is to reveal God’s glory to the world, and God is glorified through the fruit that is produced by branches connected to the vine, through the works that fulfill His will by those in whom Christ Jesus dwells and who dwell in Him.

Read full devotional here.

Hiding from God

God always sees everything.  He is never fooled, so if we are trying to hide our behavior or ourselves from God, the thought is silly and comical because the notion of hiding from God is fundamentally absurd. It is also tragic because through Christ Jesus, God offers life.  By running or hiding from Him, we are running or hiding from life, from satisfaction, from wholeness – we are running from the very quality of life everyone seeks, choosing instead to continue living as spiritually dead souls.

Read the full devotional here.

Praying with Joy

I invite you to consider your prayer life.  When you pray for your friends, what is your prayer?  We often focus on physical needs, which are temporary.  Please consider Paul’s example and expand your prayer to focus on matters of eternal significance such as their spiritual condition, their relationship with God through Christ Jesus, and the harvest of righteousness produced through their efforts for God’s glory.  May it all be for God’s glory.  Amen. 

Read the full devotional here.

Joy in Christ Jesus

On the evening of the Last Supper, Jesus spoke about joy.  He taught so that His joy would be in the disciples and their joy would thereby be complete.  And as He prayed, He spoke to the world so that people in the world would have His joy and their joy would thereby be complete.  Our joy is made complete when Christ Jesus’ joy is in us.

Read full devotional here.

Excerpt from The Point - I Am

God came to earth in the flesh.  While describing who He is, He invites us to make use of everything He offers.  He invites us to “come to” Him, “believe in” Him, “follow” Him, “remain in” Him and “bear fruit.”  In response, He promises to lay down His life, to provide spiritual sustenance and light, and to serve as our path to the kingdom of heaven.  

Read the full devotional here.

Children of Wrath

Thoughts of good and evil, life and death fill my mind as I turn to Paul’s epistle to the church in Ephesus.  Paul writes to believers, followers of Christ Jesus, and he begins the passage above writing, “You were dead….”  He declares it to be so for each reader, presenting a universal truth.  You were dead through sin following the world’s path, following devilish powers, following “the spirit that is now at work among those who are disobedient.”  So a spirit exists that breeds disobedience and death through sin, and we each once followed that spirit and pursued our personal desires, passions and lusts, but God made us alive through Christ Jesus.  But God gave us new life through Christ Jesus.  But God saved us through Christ Jesus, through His loving mercy, through His grace, by bestowing faith upon us.  We were dead and we deserve His wrath, but God did all this for us.  We were dead, but God….

 Read full devotional here.

Excerpt from The Point: Journey to Life - Image of God

Our understanding of God and who we are in relation to Him drive our worldview.  Our view of humanity, the world and our standing are dependent on our view of God.  For example, if we believe God is nonexistent, our basis of morality is diminished, possibly erased, we begin to see humans as the ultimate authority on earth, and we begin to craft rules bound only by our desires.  Scripture presents God as eternally present with characteristics beyond our ability to describe or understand.  His power is beyond the capacity of our language and minds – He created all matter in the universe out of nothing by uttering the word making it so (see Genesis 1:1; Hebrews 11:3). He is holy, pure, divine, love, wrath, and the standard upon which everything rests, but each word rings hollow because our language is too limited to communicate the heavenly, our points of references are limited to this world, and our minds lack the bandwidth.

Read full excerpt here.

Oaks of Righteousness

Jesus came to plant oaks of righteousness.  He came to free people from captivity, from oppression, and from injustice.  Through Jesus, you have been delivered from bondage to this dark world and introduced to His holy light.  Through Jesus you have been planted as an oak of righteousness.  May you grow into the mighty oak God has planned for you to become according to God’s will for your life.  Amen.

Read full devotional here.

Holy Priesthood

God urges His people to return to Him and He uses His holy priesthood to serve as leaders.  You are a royal priesthood.  May you allow Christ Jesus to transform you into His holy priesthood, sanctifying you day by day as you continue seeking Him, growing in Him and serving Him.  Amen.

 Read full devotional here.

Image of God

Merry Christmas!  God, the eternal One, the holy Creator, surrendered His heavenly glory and came to earth as a baby human – fully divine and fully human – to show us how to live and to teach us about God and to provide the path for our reconciliation with God.  Today we celebrate His birth, and worship and praise Him for who He is, and thank Him for everything.

Read full devotional here.

Mind of Christ

God’s holy word urges us to have the mind of Christ Jesus, and to reveal strength through humility, mercy and love.  How can we possibly have His mind?  The only way we gain bits and pieces of Him is through His holy indwelling, by abiding in Him and allowing Him to abide in us, through studying His holy word, by prayer, surrender and truly following Him, by loving Him, which necessitates following His commands.  

Read full devotional here.

Prayer for Transformation

Christ Jesus is with us, but how do we go to Him? We follow Paul’s example. We bow before Him, we surrender to Him, we acknowledge and proclaim our nothingness and total depravity apart from Him, and we ask Christ Jesus to dwell in our hearts through faith and to fully transform our spirits and souls, filling us with Him.

Read full devotional here.

Praise the Lord

I thank God for who He created us to be. Thank God for the purposes He designed us to fulfill. Thank God for the opportunities He grants us to serve in His great mission on earth, for His strength, His power, His salvation, His grace, His life that He bestows upon us.

Read full devotional here.

In Jesus’ Name

In the context of His union with God the Father and our union with Him, in the context of God’s great mission on earth, Jesus will do whatever we ask in His holy name “so that the Father may be glorified in the Son.”

Read the full devotional here.

Childlike Delight

I sat in the solemn service, memories of the boy and his voice and the melting hearts and my grandson swirling in my mind, feeling the warmth of it all with tears streaming down my cheeks.  We gathered worshiping God through Christ Jesus with the Holy Spirit.  Do I make Him feel the way my grandson made me feel?  Do I delight in Him?  Do I desire Him and desire to share my entire existence with Him, and reveal my delight by calling out to Him the way my grandson shrieked when he saw me or like the boy in the sanctuary called to his father?

Prayer as Our Foundation

Praying matters.  Prayers make a difference.  Heavenly events influence earthly matters, and God hears and responds to our prayers.  As a result, our prayers influence heavenly events.  

House of Prayer

When we gather in prayer, amazing things happen.  The Holy Spirit reveals Himself and we gain fresh connection with Him, and we build relationships with one another that are unlike any other.  Jesus prays that we might be one with Him, one with God the Father, and one with one another, and gathering in prayer is a way to accomplish this. This is why, while cleansing the temple, Jesus quotes Isaiah and Jeremiah, reminding everyone that His house shall be a house of prayer.

Flesh and Blood

Jesus explains that He is the bread of life and concludes by explaining that people who refuse to eat His flesh and drink His blood have no life in them. Consuming His flesh and blood are essential elements of gaining the life He offers – spiritual life, abundant life, eternal life, the kingdom of God.

Guarding the Good Treasure

Like Timothy, we each possess good treasure.  We may not have the exact elements that Timothy had, but we share common elements.  We have faith, and God’s power, love and self-discipline.  We know the gospel and God’s holy truth.  And God calls each of us into His great mission here on earth.  Like Timothy, God’s holy word urges us to join Paul in suffering for the gospel of Christ Jesus, to join in his reliance on God’s power and provision, and to guard the good treasure.

Our Treasure

Jesus taught a great deal about our desire for power and possessions, and His teaching blurs the line between the two.  Our desire for wealth, possessions, power, social position, prestige and the messy mix of it all is an outward indication of our spiritual condition.  As we grow toward Him, our focus shifts to Him, our desire shifts to His will, and our behavior changes.

Read full devotional here.

Friendship with God

God offers His friendship to mere humans.  Pause and absorb that thought.  It is an incomprehensibly awesome concept that we might have the holy Creator of the universe, the One who holds the world and everything in His hand, at our side as our companion, confidant, advisor, and everything else friendship suggests.  It is an amazing gift of grace that carries with it responsibility because all friendships are bilateral.

Read full devotional here.

Dry Bones

Jesus came to fulfill the law and the prophets.  Ezekiel’s vision and Jesus’ teaching illuminate each other in striking ways.  In many ways, using a variety of images and words, Jesus explains that He is the only path to spiritual life and communion with God.  The image of extremely dry bones suddenly coming to life because God breathes His breath of life into them is a glorious, unforgettable image of God’s holy grace available in and through Christ Jesus.  

Read full devotional here.

Released to Passions

God’s holy word explains that God releases people to their passions.  It is a shockingly awful judgment but far more merciful than other options.  I pray God continues to reveal His mercy, not the justice we deserve.  I pray that God never stops pursuing us, because He is the source of faith and life and everything.  Apart from Him we are nothing.  

Read full devotional here.

Darkness of the Cross

From noon until three, darkness covered the land. Jesus cried out to God the Father asking why the Father had forsaken Him, and as He breathed His final breath the temple curtain ripped, the earth shook, and tombs opened. “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Matthew 27:46). Everything about the scene is dark – the noon sun disappeared, God’s glory hid, Jesus, the light of the world, was not shining. For a time, darkness seemed to prevail, and God seemed absent, but the light soon overtook the darkness in new splendor.

Read the full devotional here.

Word of Life

The passage from Proverbs first set forth above says that God’s holy words “are life to those who find them, and healing to all their flesh.”  God’s holy words are life.  The words are alive, living and life, providing wholeness, peace and satisfaction to those who find them.  They are healing.  God’s holy words are medicine, the cure, deliverance for spirits, souls and bodies who find them.  They are healing to all their flesh.  God’s holy words are power, and they are powerful. Jesus is the Word.  He is life.  We gain faith by hearing His word (see Romans 10:17) and faith is empowering.  Through Christ Jesus we gain new life and the Holy Spirit takes up residence within us, transforming our spirits, souls and bodies. And we receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon us (see Acts 1:8).  

Read the full devotional here.

God’s Home on Earth

Scripture tells us that the Holy Spirit, Christ Jesus and God the Father dwell within certain people.  God, the Creator of the universe, dwells within lowly humans.  Ponder the majesty of that thought.

Read full devotional here.

Baptism into Death

Through Christ Jesus, we are each offered new life, but we must each make the leap and we should do so joyously, and by leaping into His loving arms we leave our old lives behind.  We must do so, because Scripture shows that God does not respond well to fence sitters.  We must be born again, we must gain new life, we must allow our old life to wither and die.

Read full devotional here.

In Remembrance

Have you ever stopped to consider the implications of being in communion with Christ Jesus and having the holy Creator of the universe dwelling within you? What does it mean to be united with Christ? Union with Christ changes who we are. We cannot be united with Christ and avoid transformation.

• Read full devotional here.

Proportionality

Great blessing carries with it tremendous responsibility, and we are blessed.  May you genuinely feel compassion for people you encounter.  May you continue serving as God’s agent out in the world spreading His love, light and life, allowing Him to flow through you.  May you know God’s will and endeavor to carry it out today and always.  Amen.

Read the full devotional here.

A Plan for Troubled Times

At times we feel distant from God.  The psalmist who penned Psalm 42 felt distant from God and through his writing we see a recipe of sorts emerge on how we might respond when we feel that way – he pours out his soul to God and he talks to himself, reminding himself of his hope and trust in God.   The psalmist begins by beautifully, poetically describing his distance from God by revealing his longing and thirsting for God.  He writes…

Read the full devotional here.

Powerful & Eternal Word

Writing to the church in Thessalonica, Paul says the gospel of Jesus Christ, when delivered to them, came upon them “in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction.”  The words of the gospel are not mere words, they are God’s holy word filled with power, conveying Him.  God’s holy word is powerful beyond our ability to imagine, and it is living and active.  

Read full devotional here.

An Awesome Privilege

Our lives are enhanced through connection.  When we connect with one another in honest, transparent, loving relationships, our lives are better, and our relationships are enhanced when we connect with God through Jesus Christ and allow His indwelling to transform our spirits and souls.  We flourish through connection, and when people involved in relationship are also in relationship with Jesus Christ, and they allow His love to flow through them, it becomes the highest form of relationship.

Read full devotional here.

Lord and Savior

But we must stop and ask, is that possible?  Is it possible to receive His holy gift of grace, to receive salvation, redemption, reconciliation with God without exalting Him, surrendering to Him and submitting to His Lordship?  Is it possible to have a Savior who is not our Lord?

Read full devotional here.

Bless the Lord

Bless the Lord, O my soul!  Bless the Lord indeed.  Crying out to God in praise, worship, thanksgiving and awe is the only possible response to being confronted with the majesty of His creation, the creation He spoke into existence, and through it all, Him.  

Read full devotional here.

Praise God!

When you cry out to God, what is your prayer?  The psalmist cries out to God asking God to receive his prayer and hear his prayer.  He asks God to give him understanding of God’s holy word and deliverance according to His promise.  He praises God because God teaches him His holy word, and His decrees are righteous, and they give the psalmist delight, and they sustain him.  

Read the full devotional here.

The Lord Opened Her Heart

God’s holy word presents some people who are capable of hearing and understanding God’s word, and others who lack that capacity.  Some hear and understand while others do not, and the quality separating the two is God.  God touches some to hear and understand and not others.  So we pray for God to enlighten the eyes of our spirits to see, and our ears to hear, and our minds to understand.  We ask God to reach into our realm and touch us so that we might gain faith and through Christ Jesus gain Him, and we repeat our prayer for those whom God is placing in our path to hear His gospel through us. 

Read the full devotional here.

Mystery of Faith

God showers us with His holy grace and He loves everyone and His salvation is available to everyone through Christ Jesus (see John 3:16), but each person is capable of rejecting Christ Jesus, rejecting God, refusing to receive His holy gift of grace.  So we must be out in the world proclaiming the truth to everyone because, “faith comes from what is heard, and what is heard comes through the word of Christ” (Romans 10:17).

Read the full devotional here.

Transformed Life

As you approach Jesus, what do you seek?

Read the full devotional here.

Light and Life

This morning I started reading the Gospel According to John once again and could not get past the first paragraph.  John begins poetically revealing Jesus as God, the Creator of all things, who brought life into being.  And His life is the “light of all people” (John 1:4).  So Jesus is life; life comes into being through Him; and His life is the light of all people.  But conflict exists.  While Christ Jesus is the light of all people – everyone – darkness also exists.  Darkness does not overcome the light, but darkness still exists, meaning the light does not yet shine everywhere.  This is where we come in.  Through the Holy Spirit, His life dwells within each follower of Christ, and His light should shine and His love should be revealed through us.  

Read full devotional here.

Listening and Conquering

Jesus urges us to listen to what the Holy Spirit is saying to the churches, and He promises that those who conquer receive the amazing attributes of communion with Him. I pray we each grow in our relationship with Him and gain with increasing clarity ears to hear His holy voice.  Amen.

Read full devotional here.

Wrath and Mercy

God’s holy word presents humanity’s repeated pattern of rebellion.  God is merciful, loving, compassionate and patient, and we are at risk of misinterpreting His patience as approval.  But His holy word is true.  It is the standard, revealing who God is and who we ought to be in and through Christ Jesus.  We must each consider whether our lives are consistent with our claim of association with Him, or whether we are living in active rebellion to Him.  Are we healthy, living lives consistent with our purpose or have we become corrupted, and in our corrupted state, do we threaten the very life we are intended to support?  I pray I am not a cancerous cell slated for surgical removal.

Read full devotional here.

Clothed in Righteous Deeds

The multitude in heaven sings, “Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb” (Revelation 19:9).  Who is invited to the marriage supper?  Individuals making up the bride.  Individuals whose righteous deeds adorn the bride.  Individuals making a marriage vow to Christ Jesus, saying “I do” and truly meaning it forever.

Read the full devotional here.

Sent Among Wolves

Jesus sends His disciples out into the world like sheep among wolves.  He prays asking God the Father to protect His disciples from the evil one because the world hates them.  I pray we truly are His agents out in the world revealing His love, light and life, truly serving as He seeks to transform one heart at a time.  I pray our witness is worthy of attack from evil forces.  May God continue to protect you, continue to transform you into the image of Christ Jesus, continue to fill you with His Holy Spirit, and continue to reveal His glory through you.  Amen.

Read full devotional here.

Reconciled with God

Each Easter we celebrate the most important event in human history.  Through Adam and Eve, humanity was separated from God.  At the perfect time, God came to earth as a man and surrendered Himself to die on a cross so that we might gain life.  Through His death and resurrection, Christ Jesus constructs a bridge spanning the chasm separating us from God.  Through Christ Jesus we are cleansed, reconciled with God, released from captivity, given new life.  

Read full devotional here.

Keys to the Kingdom

Through Christ Jesus, through God’s holy word, through His holy grace, He offers the keys to the kingdom of heaven to each of us, but not all will see, and our decisions made while on earth have eternal impact.  Will you choose Christ Jesus?  Will you confess your faith to others?  Will you explain to others the good news of Christ Jesus?  May God’s glory continue to be revealed through you.  Amen.

Love

After everything, after all our striving, after all our pursuits and efforts to succeed, after it all, “faith, hope and love abide, these three; and the greatest of these is love.” Love is the greatest characteristic of human existence and experience, and Christ Jesus, who is love, should be the foundational cornerstone of everything we do and all that we strive to do.

Read full devotional here.

The Lost

“Where are you?”  From the moment of physical birth until we receive new life through Christ Jesus, we are lost.  God knows exactly where we are, yet we are lost.  We need communion with God and without Him, we seek to fill the void with something, anything, and invariably worldly choices exacerbate our lostness, confusion, loneliness, hollowness.  So, God showers us with His holy grace, begging us to consider spiritual questions, encouraging us to ask about Him, sending people in our path ready to engage with us about Him, and enabling us to gain eyes to see and ears to hear.  And we continue in our state of lostness, searching for answers, seeking to fill the void in our hearts until we meet God through Christ Jesus.

Read full devotional here.

Water of Life

Living water, the water of life, gushes up within people who drink it. It grows, becomes deeper, wider and more powerful as its stream flows, and it transforms death to life. We are separated from God and in that state of separation, spiritually dead, until we receive Jesus Christ as our Savior and Lord. He offers spiritual life, abundant life, eternal life. Jesus offers His love, light and life to everyone, but we must receive His holy gift of grace, we must believe, we must have faith, we must ask for living water.

Read the full devotional here.

Tree of Life

Jesus is life.  He is the way to communion with God.  He is love, light and the cure for our separation from God inherited from Adam and Eve.  God’s holy word tells us about God, the death we suffer while separated from Him, and the glorious life available through communion with Him.  So, it should come as no surprise that we encounter the tree of life at the beginning and at the end of His holy word.

Read full devotional here.

Battles in the Spiritual Realm

Daniel fasted, prayed and grieved for God’s people for a long time, and at the right time, God sent a messenger to Daniel in response to his prayers.  Stay faithful, stay strong, stay in God’s holy word, pray continuously and seize the power of the Holy Spirit that is in you. May you know Him with richness, fullness and clarity, may you step out in the world as His servant shining His light for everyone to see, Amen.

Read full devotional here.

Prayer for Us

Jesus prayed the amazing prayer recorded as John 17.  Then He walked across the Kidron Valley to Gethsemane where He prayed more (see Matthew 26:36-46), and then He surrendered Himself for us.  Jesus was not too busy for prayer because He knows prayer is a vital component of healthy living and critical for our best possible life.

Read full devotional here.

Do God’s Word

In the passage above God explains what Joshua needs to do to be successful.  Then, in the next breath, God repeats the message.  In essence He says, do God’s holy word and you will be successful, which means living your best possible life.

 Read full devotional here.

Reconnecting with God

Today, I invite you to join me pausing from the busyness of life to simply breathe Him in, and to allow His indwelling Holy Spirit to calm our frazzled nerves and to give us His holy rest and peace as we remember who He is.  

 Read full devotional here.

Eyes to See

Some are spiritually blind but do not realize it.  Others know they are blind and as they humbly seek and submit themselves before Jesus Christ, He opens their eyes to see.  We each should look deeply within our hearts and assess where we on the continuum.  

Read full devotional here.

Revival

We are each being refined, molded, purified, transformed for His service, and often the process involves pain. While it is wonderful that God is molding, refining and purifying us for His glorious service, the process is often agonizing.

Read full devotional here.

Hunger for the Word

Ideally, we are each consumer and proclaimer of God’s holy word.  We breathe Him in as we study His holy word, pray, praise, worship and listen as others proclaim His truth to us.  How do you typically respond as you listen while someone proclaims God’s holy word to you?  Jesus calls us each to go into the world serving as His witness.  As you do, how do you respond to rejection?  How do you respond when people engage and desire more? I encourage you to consider your dual role in the context of Paul’s ministry described in the Acts of the Apostles.

Read full devotional here.

Adorning the Doctrine of God

Years ago, each week at the conclusion of our Bible study, one particular man usually said, “Remember, you are the only Bible most people will ever read.”  How might our actions, our daily routines, our life reveal the gospel to others?  Jesus calls us to abide in Him and to allow Him to abide in us (see John 15:4).  He calls us to serve as branches connected to Him, allowing His sustenance flowing through us to bear fruit (see John 15:5).  He calls us to allow His holy light to shine through us, illuminating the darkness along our path (see Matthew 5:16).  Ideally, disciples live out God’s holy word and bring it to life (see John 13:35).   I imagine for a moment, but honestly the thoughts are too painful to bear, if my life is truly the only Bible another person reads, what might he or she think the good book says?

Read full devotional here.

Thankful Spirit

Through the psalms we see praise, exultation and thanksgiving tied to a heart recognizing God for who He is.  A heart recognizing God for who He is praises, thanks and glorifies God!  No wonder God, speaking through Paul, urges us to “give thanks in all circumstances” (1 Thessalonians 5:18).  Once we see Him as the Author of life, filled with goodness, righteousness, faithfulness, love and light, how could we do anything less?  

Read full devotional here.

Our Highest Purpose

Do you ever wonder, “why am I here?" or "what is my purpose?” The answers begin by considering Jesus. Why did Jesus come to earth as a human? Why did He come on His mission? He came to glorify God. He came to earth so that we might truly know God and so that, with eyes truly opened to “the only true God,” we will glorify Him through our lives. Like Jesus, our highest purpose is to glorify God.

Read the full devotional here.

Jesus’ Mission

Jesus came to earth on a multifaceted mission and He continues His mission on earth today through His body made up of His followers empowered by the Holy Spirit. delivers good news.  Through Isaiah, God explains that Christ Jesus heals, frees, and provides joy.  How is your experience with Christ Jesus consistent with His mission statement? Is His mission continuing through you?

Read the full devotional here.

Growth Through Testing

God is sovereign.  He has all authority and power in heaven and on earth.  He created all things, He creates order from chaos, and all His creation is subject to His control.  As you survey the chaos and live through your pain and suffering, please know that God – Father, Christ Jesus and Holy Spirit – is sovereign, is love, is good and is in control.

What torment are you suffering?  What service is God preparing you to accomplish?  How is He molding, transforming, strengthening, growing you.  Use your situation to find God with new eyes, seek Him completely, and ask Him to enlighten your spirit allowing you to see the path forward in Him, through Him, serving Him in ways you may not have ever imagined.  How might God reveal His glory through you?

Read full devotional here.

Christ in You

This morning I watch the sky change colors as the sun creeps up toward the horizon, thinking about this crazy year and the difficulties many face, praying for those who grieve, and suddenly my mind shifts to God’s blessings.  I am suddenly in awe of the fact that God blesses us at all. I mean, who am I?  I am nobody, yet God - the holy, divine, Creator of the universe, the One with power and authority beyond our imagination – God chooses to dwell within us beginning the moment we first receive Christ Jesus as our Lord, and with His indwelling comes His love and power and fullness and life.  We gain Him.  We gain the all-powerful sovereign One.  Isn’t that incredibly awesome?  

Read the full devotional here.

Passionate Worship

Today I ask you to join me pondering difficult questions. Who is Jesus to you? If you believe He is the Messiah, is that merely an intellectual concept, like any other abstract fact derived from a textbook? Is He your Lord? Have you surrendered your life to Him? One indication of the accurate answer is revealed through worship. What does your worship feel like?

Read the full devotional here.

Trusting God

We should each ask ourselves, what distracts me from God’s holy word?  What whispers cause me to doubt God and His promises and provision?  Jesus urges us to trust God and His promises and His love and His provision.  If we yield to distractions or messages creating doubt, faith and trust fade to worry, and we enter the counterintuitive state of living in abundance yet worrying about whether God will provide.  The cure to this counterintuitive condition is living by God’s holy word – by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord.  Live in His holy word.  Commune with Him.  Allow Him to live in you.  Allow Him to move from concept to soul-filling reality.  

Read the full devotional here.

Light, Love and Life

Recently I was struck once again by the amazing gift of light, love and life that Christ Jesus offers.  It amazes me that He considers us, yes even a scoundrel like me, worthy of receiving His gift.  I have been pondering the passage set forth above, and questions relating to the fairness of eternal condemnation and the nature of sin, and appropriate responses to questions such as these.  

Read full devotional here.

My Cup Overflows

“The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want.”  It is a present tense, personal declaration.  He leads me to pastures and streams filled with abundant blessing, and He restores my life.  Yes, He restores my life, and your life, and the life of each person who accepts His awesome gift of life.  This is an awesome promise and an awesome claim, but how can we possibly claim this promise while surrounded by calamity and chaos, and experiencing pain and suffering?   

Read full devotional here.

Love Poems

God’s holy word is beautiful, cohesive and consistent.  God is love and He celebrates loving relationships to the extent of including love poems in His holy word.  Love is not a task to be reluctantly endured or painfully checked off a to-do list.  We should desire and celebrate the love that is only available in and through Christ Jesus with the passion depicted in the poems.

Read full devotional here.

Prosperity in Christ

Through it all, through his loss of loved ones, loss of wealth, loss of livelihood, loss of health, loss of social standing, and through his friends’ tormenting him with poor theology, Job gains eyes to see God, he encounters God, and he is forever changed.  Job says, “I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees you.”  In the beginning he faithfully worshiped God, but through suffering he genuinely sought God.  As he truly searched for God, he genuinely encountered God, he communed with God, he saw God, and through it all he was forever changed.  He was spiritually transformed.  From an eternal perspective, Job discovered true prosperity.

Read full devotional here.

Responding to Brokenness

You have the power to illuminate and transform the world within your realm of influence. We may not be perfect, but we are not helpless.

Read the devotional here.

A New Thing

Through the chaos swirling around us, God is doing amazing things.

Read the devotional here.

Hate Evil

God directs us to hate evil, but He also directs us to love the people who perpetuate evil conditions. Hate the condition, not the person who may seem to embody or perpetuate it.

Read the devotional here.

Choices

Our choices are significant. They matter. Our decision to follow Jesus as Christ is of utmost importance, and all the seemingly small choices after that determine our path and whether we are moving towards him. 

Read the devotional here.

Barometer of Faith

Is my faith based on tangible evidence of God’s blessing in the form of material abundance, or is it based on my certainty that God is who He says He is?

Read the full devotional here.

God is With You

God is with you always and He anoints you to go and proclaim. 

Read the devotional here.

Opened Minds

After demonstrating this significant truth, Jesus “opened their minds to understand the scriptures…”

Read the devotional here.

Burning Hearts

They had spent their journey walking and talking with Jesus Christ, but they did not realize it.

Read the devotional here.

Love One Another

Jesus demonstrated loving service by assuming the position of a slave, and He washed the disciples’ feet.

Read the devotional here.

A Special Form of Evil

The One who dwells within us is mightier than the adversary. 

Read the devotional here.

Our Opportunity to Reset

God is blessing us with this time of reset. I pray that we do not miss it, that we do not waste it.

Read the devotional here.

In the Image of the Creator

God created you in His image, instilling within you the desire and talent to create good things.

Read the devotional here.

Matters of Significance

Today is an amazing, glorious gift from God. What will you do with it?

Read the devotional here.

Grieving with Hope

So long as we live in this broken world, we will be exposed to grief. Even the sinless One grieved.

Read the devotional here.

Light of Life

Jesus offers life to the world. This is the source of our greatest hope and our greatest mission.

Read the devotional here.

Praying Our Renewed Covenant

Let’s pray a covenant renewal prayer and commit to align our lives with His purpose.

Read the devotional here.

Valuing God

Each morning we wake is an unbelievable blessing, filled with opportunities. We should ask ourselves, what do I value? What is important? What will I do with today?

Read the full devotional here.

Students & Disciples

As we consider our commitment to God the Father, Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit, we must each decide what we seek. Are we students or disciples? Do we seek intellectual knowledge or do we seek to embody Him? 

Read the full devotional here.

Living in Christ

Compared to God we are nothing, but through His indwelling we are transformed. 

Read the full devotional here.

Guarding the Good Deposit

We are far from perfect, we are not holy, yet we have this amazing treasure housed within our imperfection.

Read the full devotional here.

Renewing Our Covenant with God

We need to intentionally set aside time to remember, to refocus, to regroup, and to return to the path leading towards God.

Read the full devotional here.

God’s Amazing Plan

God is working wonders around us, among us and through us. He reveals His glory today and He will continue doing so tomorrow.

Read the full devotional here.

Heavenly Message of Hope

As you walk through the fire of life here on earth, pursuing the daunting mission God is calling you to accomplish, what is your source of hope?

Read the full devotional here.

Promise and Purpose

God promises that He is with us. He promises His love, redemption, protection, and relationship. He also reveals our purpose—to declare God’s praise and to exist for God’s glory.

Read the full devotional here.

Shelter from the Storm

He rescues us physically and spiritually. He physically delivers us from the wilderness and provides food, drink and shelter. He also offers spiritual salvation, redemption, rescue and deliverance.

Read the full devotional here.

Prayers of Many

God promises in His holy word that 1) prayer helps, 2) blessings are granted through prayer, and 3) when many pray interceding on behalf of another, many see God’s blessing and many give thanks to God.

Read the full devotional here.

Praying for an Open Door

Father, please open to me a door for your holy word, that I may declare the mystery of Christ Jesus and that I may reveal it clearly, as I should.

Read the full devotional here.

Wandering and Waiting

What wilderness are you in? What ministry are you being prepared for?

Read the devotional here.

Encountering God

How do we move from questioning God (or His existence) because of our pain to seeing God and His mercy through it? 

Read the devotional here.

Remembering God

If our understanding of God, our relationship with God is the foundation for our interaction with the world around us, we must be vigilant to keep God in the front of our consciousness.

Read the devotional here.

Heavenly Visions

The path towards intimacy begins with intellectual knowledge, but the key to life change is encounter.

Read the devotional here.

A Thorn for Humility

If you are experiencing a thorn, follow Paul’s example and ask God to take it away, and if it lingers, perhaps it is, like Paul’s thorn, a gift for humility. 

Read the devotional here.