Daily Devotionals

Psalm 89: 15

Contrary to popular opinion, God doesn't sit in heaven with His jaws clenched, His arms folded in disapproval, and a deep frown on His brow.

He is not ticked off at His children for all the times we trip over our tiny feet and fall flat on our diapers.

He is a loving Father, and we are precious in His sight, the delight of His heart. After all, He "has qualified us to share in the inheritance of the saints in Light" (Colossians 1:12). Think of it! He's put us in His inheritance!

Remember that the next time you think God is coming down on you.

Proverbs 28:1

When will we ever learn that there are no hopeless situations, only people who have grown hopeless about them?

What appears as an unsolvable problem to us is actually a rather exhilarating challenge. People who inspire others are those who see invisible bridges at the end of dead-end streets.

There was a Cabinet meeting in London during the darkest days of the Second World War. France had just capitulated. Prime Minister Churchill outlined the situation in its starkest colours. Quite literally, the tiny British Isles stood alone.

Proverbs 31:27-28

What does motherhood require?

Transparent tenderness, authentic spirituality, inner confidence, unselfish love, and self-control

Quite a list, isn't it? Almost more than we should expect. Perhaps that explains why Erma Bombeck used to say that motherhood takes 180 movable parts and three pairs of hands and three sets of eyes...and, I might add, the grace of God.

If you happen to be a mother, here's one guy who applauds your every effort. Five cheers for all you do!...

Psalm 146:8

Do you know what God's fresh, new morning message is to us? Whether the sun is shining brightly or whether it's pouring down rain? Whether the morning is bright or whether it's grey and overcast?

His promise is the dawn itself...

Every morning the Lord comes through with His encouraging message, "We're still on speaking terms, you know! I'm here. I haven't moved. Let's go together today."...

Trust God to remember you.

He won't forget your name. He won't forget your circumstances, He certainly won't forget your prayers....

1 Samuel 18

Who would've ever guessed it? Out of the blue came this nobody. He had spent his youth working for his dad in the quiet, rugged outdoors. Now, suddenly, he was the most famous man in the country. But he couldn't wait to retreat to the hills where life was simple and uncluttered.

Philippians 1:1-11

I remember the year NBA stars Michael Jordan and Earvin "Magic" Johnson were vying for the Most Valuable Player award. That year it was incredibly close, and the final tally resulted in Johnson's winning the award by the narrowest of margins. The choice boiled down to an understanding of the definition of "valuable" as opposed to the definition of "outstanding."

Ephesians 4:1-7

Ever felt weird because you were "normal"? I remember the first time I had that feeling. I was a teenager surrounded by other teenagers in a testimony meeting. One girl, with tears running down her face, told of an alcoholic father who beat her mother almost every weekend. She described how she would hide in the closet lest she become a target of his drunken rage. Then she told how her friend at school had led her to Christ.

Romans 8:18-27

"Rome wasn't built in a day." If I heard that once, I heard it a hundred times while I was growing up. I was young and impatient, anxious to reach the goals I felt were important. But there was always this irksome reminder that good things take time and great things take even longer.

Now, however, at long last, I am discovering that stuff about Rome is true. And Paul's words to the century-one Christians who lived there are also truer than ever: "But if we hope for what we do not see, with perseverance we wait eagerly for it" (Romans 8:25).

From a distance we in the church often look like beautiful people. We're well-dressed. We have nice smiles. We look friendly. We appear cultured, under control...at peace.

But what a different picture comes in view when someone gets up close and in touch! What appeared so placid is really a mixture of winding roads of insecurity and uncertainty...maddening gusts of lust, greed, and self-indulgence...and pathways of pride glazed over with a slick layer of hypocrisy. All this is shrouded in a cloud of fear of being found out.

Isaiah 29:13-16

Fresh-fallen snow blanketed the range of mountains on the northeast rim of the Los Angeles basin. When I caught my first glimpse of it in the distance, I found myself smiling and saying aloud, "Beautiful!" Seventy-five miles away, it was beautiful. Up close, well, that was an entirely different matter.