Devotionals

2 Timothy 1:1-5

Several years ago someone interviewed the contemporary artist Marc Chagall for a PBS program. The young, arty interviewer started the session with a question about influences. His question was very long and involved and exhibited his own learning along the way, giving everybody, including Chagall, a lecture on the nature of influences on the artist.

1 Corinthians 9:19-27

Discipline is one of the most hated terms of our times...right alongside patience and self-control. But have you noticed how often it comes up in the testimonies of those who win?

The Apostle Paul says that he willingly forfeited his apostolic rights for the sake of winning more. That took discipline. Paul says that he endured all things in order to reach his objective; he exercised "self-control in all things." 

Here are key uses of discipline: 

Acts 20:16-24 

I had just completed a manuscript on Philippians, and my heart was full of joy. Not only because I was through (isn't that a wonderful word?) but because joy, the theme of the inspired letter I had spent weeks studying, had rubbed off. It was as if Paul and I had shared the same room and written at the same desk.

Psalm 98

God's sharp sword stabbed me deeply recently as I was on a scriptural hunt in the Ephesian letter. I was searching for a verse totally unrelated to the one that sliced its way into me. It was another of those verses I feel sorry for (like John 3:17 and 1 John 1:10—look 'em up). This was Ephesians 5:19: "speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody with your heart to the Lord."

Acts 1

Morale and vision fade fast. This is especially true when the battle is raging. Or when the pace is blistering. Or when the task is boring. Many war veterans tell spine-tingling stories pulsating with heroism and enthusiasm. Without exception, such remarkable acts of bravery were accomplished because the troops felt fresh surges of determination that caused the odds against them to pale into insignificance. Those same veterans can tell of other occasions when the battle was lost due to low morale and fuzzy vision.

1 Thessalonians 4:1-8

Volumes are written about the mind, our emotional makeup, our "inner man," the soul, the spirit and the spiritual dimension. But by comparison, very little is being said by evangelicals today about the physical body.

Psalm 19

Let me introduce you to the Hubble Space Telescope (affectionately dubbed "ST"). Says one authority: "It's not hyperbole to say that ST is as much an improvement over the most powerful existing telescope as Galileo's first spyglass in 1609 was over the human eye.... It could bring into focus the stars on an American flag at a distance of 3,000 miles. ST will record images...via electronic light collectors so sensitive they could detect a flashlight on the Moon."

1 Timothy 6:17-19

If there were one great message I could deliver to those who struggle with not having an abundance of this world's goods, it would be this simple yet profound premise for happiness: Great wealth is not related to money! It is an attitude of satisfaction coupled with inner peace, plus a day-by-day, moment-by-moment walk with God. Sounds so right, so good, doesn't it? In our world of more, more, more...push, push, push...grab, grab, grab, this counsel is long overdue. In a word, the secret is contentment.

Ecclesiastes 3:1-13 

Earthquakes! Prison riots! Economic pressures! Divorce! No jobs! Drugs! Disease! Death! Pretty serious scene, isn't it? Yet that is the emotional environment in which we live. No wonder someone has dubbed this the "Aspirin age." Small wonder more of us are not throwing in the towel.

1 John 1

Remember comedian Flip Wilson's old line, "The Devil made me do it"? Here was this character who had obviously done something bad. But instead of taking the blame, he pointed an accusing finger at "the Devil." Why did we laugh? We weren't just laughing at his hilarious routines; we were laughing at ourselves—at one of our favourite indoor games: The Blame Game. And since he is altogether wicked and invisible and unable to challenge our accusation in audible tones, there's no better scapegoat than old Lucifer himself.