Devotionals

2 Corinthians 1

Of all the letters Paul wrote, Second Corinthians is the most autobiographical. In this letter Paul records the specifics of his anguish, tears, affliction, and satanic opposition. He spells out the details of his persecution, loneliness, imprisonments, beatings, feelings of despair, hunger, shipwrecks, sleepless nights, and that "thorn in the flesh"—his companion of pain. How close it makes us feel to him when we see him as a man with real, honest-to-goodness problems, just like ours!

Philippians 4

I have discovered that a joyful countenance has nothing to do with one's age or one's occupation (or lack of it) or one's geography or education or marital status or good looks or circumstances. Joy is a choice!

Romans 12

Nobody is a whole chain. Each one is a link. But take away one link and the chain is broken.

Nobody is a whole team. Each one is a player. But take away one player and the game is forfeited.

Nobody is a whole orchestra. Each one is a musician. But take away one musician and the symphony is incomplete.

We need each other. You need someone and someone needs you. Isolated islands, we're not.

Hebrews 10:23-25

I'm a sports fan. I'm sure that comes as news to no one! For some strange reason, even when I was growing up, I could remember the most amazing details—OK, maybe "trivia" is a better word—about different ballplayers. You know, stuff nobody really cares to hear, but nevertheless sticks in my head...the way it does with most sports fans.

Ephesians 4:11-16

Many professions draw public attention like warm watermelon draws flies. Those who practise them are constantly in the news. If it isn't the money they make, it's the company they keep or the trends they set or the controversy they spawn. Their notoriety is somewhere between amazing and appalling.

There is one profession, however, that is neither notorious nor controversial. Although essential to our future as a nation, being inseparably linked to the home as few other professions are, it has been treated like a stepchild.

Leaders must go beyond analysis to action. One cannot lead without energy, motion, risk. Leaders are pathfinders, road makers, action takers.

Cowardice, to put it bluntly, is an ungodly trait. God is not passive in the face of evil, nor is He indecisive.

The Psalms are full of powerful lyrics that give us a clear portrait of the Lord God. Never is He portrayed as a mild-mannered, passive Deity, hoping and waiting for things to happen. Always He is aggressively engaged in an all-out war against injustice and inequity.

Deuteronomy 31

Getting a big job done calls for heart. Having a high IQ is not essential. Neither is being a certain age. Or possessing a particular temperament. You don't even need the backing of the majority. History books are full of incredible stories of men and women who accomplished remarkable feats in the face of unbelievable odds.

Matthew 6:25-34

When you face an impossibility, leave it in the hands of the Specialist! Refuse to calculate. Refuse to doubt. Refuse to work it out by yourself. Refuse to worry or encourage others to worry. Stand against that.

Instead, say, "Lord, I'm carrying around something I cannot handle. Because You are not only able but also willing, take this off my hands. It's impossible to me, but is as nothing with You." Persevering through the pressures of impossibilities calls for that kind of confidence.

Hebrews 13:1-3

Who really cared? His was a routine admission to busy Bellevue Hospital. A charity case, one among hundreds. A drunken man from the Bowery with a slashed throat. The Bowery...last stop before the morgue.

The derelict's name was misspelled on the hospital form, but then what good is a name when the guy's a bum? The age was also incorrect. He was 38, not 39, and looked twice that. Somebody might have remarked, "What a shame for one so young," but no one did. Because no one cared.

Mark 6

"Grab here, amigo." I grabbed. "Hold on tight." I held on. "When you come back toward the shore and I blow whistle, you pull cord pronto!" Within seconds I was airborne. A loud "whoosh," a long strong jerk, and I was three hundred feet or so above the picturesque beach at Puerto Vallarta.

You guessed it...my first try at parasailing. Four-and-a-half minutes of indescribable ecstasy sandwiched between a few seconds of sheer panic. Talk about fun!