Devotionals

Luke 10:25-37

A Greek class was given an assignment to study the story of the Good Samaritan in Luke 10:25-37. As is true in most classes, a couple or three of the students cared more about the practical implications of the assignment than its intellectual stimulation.

Exodus 6:1-8

Remember the words Marine Private Gomer Pyle used to repeat in almost every episode of his television show? "Surprise, surprise!" Some surprises refresh us. We're low. Under the pile. Then, out of the blue, we receive a letter of affirmation. Those lines, though few, lift our spirits. Maybe it's an unexpected phone call or a hug of reassurance that sends us soaring.

Proverbs 18:19, 21

Wisely labelled "the saving virtue," tact graces life like fragrance graces a rose. One whiff erases any memory of the thorns. It's remarkable how peaceful and pleasant tact can make us. Its major goal is avoiding unnecessary offence, and that alone ought to make us crave it. Its basic function is a keen sense of what to say or do in order to maintain the truth and good relationships, and that alone ought to make us cultivate it. Tact is incessantly appropriate, invariably attractive, incurably appealing, but rare...oh, is it rare! 

Proverbs 22:9

I feel like starting with the words the nurse says as she approaches your bed with one hand behind her back: "This won't take long, but it may sting a little."

Do you need to be set free? Honestly now, is your next step the need to forgive? Do it. Don't let anything or anyone talk you out of it. I know, I know. After all the misery you have had to endure, why should you have to be the one who humbles yourself and forgives?

Christ could have asked the same question at Golgotha. Perhaps He did at Gethsemane. But once He discerned the Father's determination, there was no looking back...no turning back.

Remember His cry from the cross? "Father, forgive them..." (Luke 23:34).

Matthew 18

Class Action is a class act. It's a film about two lawyers who go head-to-head, both in court and in life. They are father and daughter...on opposite sides of a complicated case charged with the full spectrum of emotions.

1 John 5:4-7

According to Scripture, three things are required for spiritual victory: birth, faith, and truth. In order to enter into the ranks of the victorious, we must be "born of God." It occurs when I accept Jesus Christ as Saviour.

Then comes faith. I draw upon the power that is in me. I no longer operate on the basis of human strength, but by faith. I rely upon divine power. 

Then is truth. Everything is made possible by the truth, by believing the truth, by living the truth. Allow the truth to invade, reshape, and cultivate your life anew. 

Jeremiah 12

During the reign of Oliver Cromwell, the British government began to run low on silver for coins. Lord Cromwell sent his men to the local cathedral to see if they could find any precious metal there. After investigating they reported: "The only silver we can find is in the statues of the saints standing in the corners."

To which the radical soldier and statesman of England replied: "Good! We'll melt down the saints and put them in circulation!"

Matthew 11:27-30

Like potatoes in a pressure cooker, we 21st-century creatures understand the meaning of stress. A week doesn't pass without a few skirmishes that beat up on our fragile frames. They may be as mild as making lunches for our kids before 7:30 in the morning (mild?) or as severe as a collision with another car...or another person. Makes no difference. The result is "trauma." You know, the bottom-line reason Valium remains the top seller.

2 Timothy 2:15

Remember that time you got ticked off trying to find a verse in the Bible and couldn't? That was almost as bad as the day you decided to read a couple of chapters and got hung up on "Nazirite"...or scratched your head over "cubit."

These are like hardened, glazed coverings that suddenly obscure our understanding of God's truth. The pick and shovel of good intentions simply will not cut through. Sharper tools than that are needed, believe me!