Daily Devotionals

Psalm 62:5

Henri Nouwen called solitude... "the furnace of transformation." This doesn't refer to mere personal privacy for a 12-second pit stop where we get a quick fix to re-enter the race.

It's more than that.

It's an oasis of the soul where we see ourselves, others, and especially our God in new ways. It's where much of the "clutter" of life is identified and exterminated, thanks to the merciless heat of the "furnace."

Soul surgery transpires as serenity replaces anxiety.

Matthew 6:12

Have you done someone wrong?

Have you been offensive?

Have your actions caused hurt?

To do nothing is not only in direct disobedience to Jesus' teaching, it also complicates your life. It adds heavier mental weights than you are capable of carrying.

It is like dropping an anchor and then cranking up your boat's engine and putting it in gear. The anchor keeps catching and snagging on the bottom, making for a terribly uncomfortable ride across the water.

How simple the solution! Just pull in the anchor...

1 Corinthians 15:33

Compromise never works. We always get burned. Even though we rationalize around our weak decisions and tell ourselves that wicked associations really won't harm us ("They'll get better, our good will rub off their bad!"), we get soiled in the process.

If you put on a pair of clean white gloves on a rainy day and then go out into the backyard to the flowerbed and pick up a glob of mud, trust me, the mud will never get "glovey."

The gloves will definitely get muddy. Every time.

Proverbs 18:24

If I have learned anything during my journey on Planet Earth, it is that people need one another.

The presence of other people is essential—caring people, helpful people, interesting people, friendly people, thoughtful people. These folks take the grind out of life.

About the time we are tempted to think we can handle things all alone—boom! We run into some obstacle and need assistance. We discover all over again that we are not nearly as self-sufficient as we thought.

Psalm 119:66

Whenever you see the scriptural phrase "This is the will of God," you know for sure that's God's will. You also know that to disobey is to break His Word.

Other clear indications of His leading are the precepts and principles in the Scripture.

Precepts are clearly marked statements like "Abstain from sexual immorality." That's like saying, "Speed Limit 35." What is speeding? Anything over 35 miles an hour. That's a precept.

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.