Devotionals

Romans 12:21

Can't and won't. Christians need to be very careful which one they choose. It seems that we prefer to use "can't."

"I just can't get along with my wife."
"My husband and I can't communicate."
"I can't discipline the kids as I should."
"I just can't give up the affair I'm having."
"I can't stop overeating."
"I can't find time to pray."

Any Christian who takes the Bible seriously will have to agree the word here really should be "won't." Why? Because we have been given the power, the ability to overcome. Literally!

Psalm 32

The words of Psalm 23 are very familiar to all of us. Yet, unless we read that psalm through the eyes of a sheep, we will miss its magnificent message. Remember how it concludes? "Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever" (KJV).

Think of goodness and mercy as God's sheepdogs. They stay with us, close by our side, "all the days of our lives." And what helpful companions they are!

Ephesians 2:1-9

What those little Visine drops do for our eyes, relief does for our sighs..."it gets the red out." Few feelings bring a greater sense of satisfaction than relief, which Webster defines as "the removal or lightening of something oppressive, painful, or distressing."

1 John 1:5-7

"You do not have to sit outside in the dark. If, however, you want to look at the stars, you will find that darkness is required. The stars neither require it nor demand it." (Annie Dillard)

A lot of things in life are like that, aren't they?

Amos 5:14-15, 24 

The old prophet Habakkuk wrote relevant words of truth when he put this down in the first chapter of his prophecy: "Yes, destruction and violence are before me; strife exists and contention arises. Therefore the law is ignored and justice is never upheld. For the wicked surround the righteous; therefore justice comes out perverted" (Habakkuk 1:3-4).

The writer of those words died centuries ago, but oh, how his words live on! If you are even slightly aware of everything happening in the world around us, you know how up-to-date his words really are.

A Public Agenda Foundation study, co-authored by Daniel Yankelovich, came up with these top 10 qualities that today's workers want in a job. 

Mark 2 

While travelling across northern California several years ago, I tuned in a radio talk show where the host had just conducted a poll of his listeners regarding job satisfaction. Some sort of questionnaire had been mailed to folks within a broad radius of several cities along the San Francisco peninsula and East Bay region. The show's host had gathered and compiled the answers and was, that day, announcing the results.

Hebrews 6:10

In a cartoon strip some years ago a little guy was taking heat from his sister and friends for a newly found "calling"—patting birds on the head. The distressed birds would approach, lower their little feathered pates to be patted, sigh deeply, and walk away satisfied. It brought him no end of fulfilment—in spite of the teasing he took from others. "What's wrong with patting birds on the head?" he wanted to know. "What's wrong with it?" his embarrassed friends replied, "No one else does it!"

Revelation 1:1-3; 3:11-12 

It was Ernest Hemingway who once said, "Time is the least thing we have of." And he was right. How quickly time passes—and how often we lament this. If only we could tack an extra 25 or 30 years on to the usual span. There is so much more we want to see, to celebrate, to do. So many places to go, so much to enjoy, to feel, to read, to talk about, to participate in, to encounter. Yet, for each of us, this thing called time is in such short supply.

Malachi 3:16-17

Call me sentimental, but some tunes really send me reeling. And nobody—I mean nobody—does it any better than Barbra Streisand. Her rendition of "The Way We Were" is pretty close to the ultimate in my book. Remember the words? 

"Memories...light the corners of my mind...."