Devotionals

Ephesians 2:3–5

I’m told that when suffering a heart attack, it feels as if someone has placed a hundred-pound weight directly on your chest. The panic comes when you can’t get relief.

2 Chronicles 7:14

In 1968, an airplane headed for New York—a normally routine flight. But this time it proved to be otherwise.

While on their descent pattern, the pilot realized that the landing gear was not engaging. He messed around with the controls, trying again and again to get the gear to lock into place without success. He then asked ground control for instruction. As the plane circled the landing field, the emergency crew coated the runway with foam, and emergency vehicles moved into position.

2 Timothy 2:1–7

I’ve been thinking these days about what makes a church effective. It’s on my mind more and more as I’ve rounded the turn into my 80th year of life. What I’ve come to realize is that part of what makes a church a winsome place is when believers live transparently with one another.

The Apostle Paul challenged Timothy, his son in the faith, to push past the facade and live his life in touch with reality:

Proverbs 4:18–23

The older I get the more serious I am about study and preparation. From my early days as a student at Dallas Theological Seminary, I was convinced of the importance of rigorous preparation, deep reading, and a solid theological and biblical education. In fact, I’ve sometimes wished I could’ve had more training—spent more years pursuing an even more scholarly set of skills.

Isaiah 59:1–3

I often hear in my head the lyrics to a delightful tune from the blockbuster movie Mary Poppins: “Just a spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down.” I recall as a boy having to take doses of sour medicine, which my mother had sweetened with honey, so I wouldn’t gag as I swallowed.

Sometimes, God has us swallow some bitter medicine too. The medicine often includes the tough pill of truth regarding our sin. The sugar is His grace and kindness and the forgiveness He offers upon our return to our senses.

Psalm 139:13–14, 17–18

Habakkuk 2:19–20

1 Peter 5:5–7

A prayer to be said
When the world has gotten you down,
And you feel rotten,
And you’re too doggone tired to pray,
And you’re in a big hurry,
And besides you’re mad at everybody...
Help.

Psalm 46:1–3

The old country preacher was right when he said, “I may tremble on the rock, but the rock don’t tremble under me.” It is my solid foundation. It stands firm no matter what may occur.

That delightful expression always turns my mind to Psalm 46:

God is our refuge and strength, always ready to help in times of trouble. So we will not fear when earthquakes come and the mountains crumble into the sea. Let the oceans roar and foam. Let the mountains tremble as the waters surge! (Psalm 46:1–3)

Ephesians 2:19–20

In the swirl of these turbulent times, I’m hearing echoes in my mind of David’s question in Psalm 11: “If the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do?” (verse 3 ESV).

Great question! Webster tells us that a “foundation” is “the basis upon which something stands or is supported.” Every house has a foundation. Every significant structure, every building has a foundation. The taller the building, the deeper and more substantial the foundation. Destroy the building’s foundation, and you’ve toppled the building.