Devotionals

1 Kings 4:29-34; Proverbs 2:1-10; 4:5-7; Isaiah 26:3; Romans 8:5-11; 12:2

Your mind is a muscle. It needs to be stretched to stay sharp. It needs to be prodded and pushed to perform. Let it get idle and lazy on you, and that muscle will become a pitiful mass of flab in an incredibly brief period of time.

How can you stretch your mind? What are some good mental exercises that will keep the cobwebs away? I offer three suggestions:

2 Corinthians 10:1-18; Galatians 6:1-5; James 2:1-12

If I may select a well-known phrase from the cobwebs of the 14th century and wipe away the dust to garner your attention, it is:

Comparisons are odious.

Hosea 1:1-11; 3:1-5; 6:1; Acts 20:20-21; Luke 15:8-10

Hosea started a scandal in the parsonage. Why? Hold onto your hat—he married a prostitute. Talk about gossip! His name became a byword for "fool." Respect for him dropped to zero. His reputation was suddenly null and void. "Small wonder he is listed first among the minor prophets," some sneer..."He must have been some kind of a nut."

Isaiah 45:5-9; 46:8-11; Daniel 5:18-21

The bitter news of Dawson Trotman's drowning swept like cold wind across Schroon Lake to the shoreline. Eyewitnesses tell of the profound anxiety, the tears, the helpless disbelief in the faces of those who now looked out across the deep blue water. Everyone's face except one—Lila Trotman. Dawson's widow. As she suddenly walked upon the scene a close friend shouted, "Oh, Lila...he's gone. Dawson's gone!" To that she replied in calm assurance the words of Psalm 115:3:

Daniel 9:4-19; Luke 7:36-48; Acts 10:34-43

It is quite probable that someone reading my words this moment is fighting an inner battle with a ghost from the past. The skeleton in one of yesterday's closets is beginning to rattle louder and louder. Putting adhesive tape around the closet and moving the bureau in front of the door does little to muffle the clattering bones. You wonder, possibly, "Who knows?" You think, probably, "I've had it...can't win...party's over."

Joshua 6:1-27; 1 Samuel 7:1-50; 1 Chronicles 11:15-19

Snake River Canyon coiled up, rattled its tail, and sank its fangs into its would-be captor. On a sultry Sunday afternoon its l,700-foot jaws yawned wide as it swallowed a strange-tasting capsule prescribed for it by Dr. Robert C. Truax, the scientist-designer of Sky Cycle X-2. Starring in the show was a guy some people tagged Captain Marvel, who looked more like Billy Batson unable to remember the magic word. But before we label him a showman or a show-off...I suggest we consider the outcome of this showdown.

James 5:7–11; Romans 5:1–5; Galatians 5:19–24

Perhaps you’ve uttered the American’s Prayer at some anxious moment recently: 

Lord, give me patience...and I want it right now!

This rare and remarkable virtue is within the and-so-forth section in Galatians chapter 5. You know how we quote that passage...“the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, and-so-forth.” That lazy habit has caused a very important series of virtues to become forgotten. Allow me to quote Galatians 5:22–23—in full. 

1 Peter 5:5, 6; Matthew 20:20–28

The children worked long and hard on their own little cardboard shack. It was to be a special spot—a clubhouse—where they could meet in solemn assembly or just laugh, play games, and fool around. As they thought long and hard about their rules, they came up with three rather perceptive ones: 

1. Nobody act big. 
2. Nobody act small. 
3. Everybody act medium.¹

Not bad theology! 

In different words, God says the very same thing: 

Mark 6:45-56; Luke 24:36-45; Colossians 3:2; Hebrews 5:1-14; 1 Peter 1:13-15; 1 Kings 4:29

Are you ready for a surprise? You blink 25 times every minute. Each blink takes you about one-fifth of a second. Therefore, if you take a 10-hour automobile trip, averaging 40 miles per hour, you will drive 20 miles with your eyes closed.

1 John 3:16-20; Matthew 11:25-30; Psalm 62:5-8, 91:1, 2