Devotionals

Proverbs 17:6

We cannot change the past...and that includes the way we reared our children.

All of us—yes, every parent I have ever met—would love to step into the time tunnel and return to the Island of Second Chance. We would give anything to relive those years and correct the failures and mistakes we committed the first time around.

All such fantasy wishes need to be erased. They can never be fulfilled! The parenting process offers only one try per child, one day at a time, never again to be repeated.

Psalm 62:8

You and I could name things, specific things that we've gone through in the last several years that make no logical sense whatsoever...but that's OK. We can't figure them out.

But let me assure you, God is at work doing His mysterious plan (mysterious to us), which defies human logic.

So quit trying to make it humanly logical. Trust Him...

Do you realize what a peaceful life you can live if you decide to live like this? Do you realize how relaxed you can be, how free of stress?

Honestly.

Proverbs 13:4

A young fellow rushed into a gas station to use the pay phone. The manager overheard his telephone conversation as he asked: "Sir, could you use a hardworking, honest young man to work for you?" [pause] "Oh...you've already got a hardworking, honest young man? Well, thanks anyway!"

The boy hung up the phone with a smile. Humming to himself, he began to walk away, obviously happy.

"How can you be so cheery?" asked the eavesdropping manager. "I thought the man you talked to already had someone and didn't want to hire you."

Psalm 32:7

Providence. We toss the word around. But have you ever analyzed it?

It comes from the Latin, providentia. Pro means "before" or "ahead of time"; videntia is from videre, meaning "to see."...Put them together and you have "seeing ahead of time," which is what Almighty God does. He sees the events of life ahead of time—something that we of course can never do.

We're great at history. Our hindsight is almost always 20/20. But we're lousy at prophecy, that is, the specifics of the future.

Isaiah 26:3

Disillusionment is a dangerous, slippery slope.

First, we become disillusioned about our fellow man. Then we move on to cynicism. Before long, we trust no one, not even God. We've been burned. We've been taken advantage of; we've been mistreated...

The cause of disillusionment and the cure for it can be expressed in almost the sample simple words.

Proverbs 25:11

Like Jell-O, concepts assume the mould of the words into which they are poured. Who has not been stabbed awake by the use of a particular word...or combinations of words? Who has not found relief from a well-timed word spoken at the precise moment of need? Who has not been crushed beneath the weight of an ill-chosen word? And who has not gathered fresh courage because a word of hope penetrated the fog of self-doubt? The term word remains the most powerful of all four-letter words.

Colours fade.

Shorelines erode.

Temples crumble.

2 Corinthians 12:8–9

It is not God’s will that everyone be physically healed.

Those who believe it is, usually support their claims with the words of Isaiah:

He was beaten so we could be whole. He was whipped so we could be healed (Isaiah 53:5).

1 Kings 19:11–13

God often delivers His best gifts to us in unexpected ways ... with surprises inside the wrappings. Through apparent contradictions. Somewhat like the therapy, He used when Elijah was so low and so terribly disillusioned.

1 Timothy 6:6–8

May I invite you to the shores of Lake Contentment?

Undisturbed by outside noises brought on by the jackhammers of exaggeration, those who enjoy the lake know what relaxation is all about. They know nothing of any winter of discontent (or spring or fall or summer, for that matter). Such an existence breeds security and happiness.

Matthew 6:19–21

I once read that the average American is exposed to about three hundred advertisements a day. Today that number has increased many times over.

The Internet article from which I read that fact was cluttered with advertisements, most of them with little interest to the reader. Pop-up ads, brash banners, and flashing digital attractions all lead us into a world of exaggerated make-believe, convincing us that we simply cannot live without the stuff!