Daily Devotionals

1 Kings 19:9–21

God often delivers His best gifts to us in unexpected ways...with surprises inside the wrappings. Through apparent contradictions. Somewhat like the therapy He used when Elijah was so low, so terribly disillusioned. 

Philippians 2:5-11

Tom Landry, the late head coach of the Dallas Cowboys, was once quoted as saying something like this: 

“I have a job to do that is not very complicated, but it is often difficult: to get a group of men to do what they don’t want to do so they can achieve the one thing they have wanted all their lives.” 

Philippians 4:11–13

What a beautiful scene in the soul is Lake Contentment! Undisturbed by outside noises brought on by the jackhammers of exaggeration, those who enjoy the lake know what relaxation is all about. They know nothing of any winter of discontent—or spring or fall or summer, for that matter. Such an existence breeds security and happiness. 

Paul lived on that lake once he got his life squared away. He’s the one, remember, who wrote: 

Matthew 6:19-21

A number of years ago I read that, believe it or not, the average American is exposed to about three hundred advertisements a day. Today that number has very likely increased! 

Acts 19:23–31

After Paul had been willing to stay at the task in Ephesus even with the dream of going to Rome on his heart (Acts 19:23), “about that time...” That’s the way it happens. Just about the time you get out of your prayer closet and you’ve got it all worked out, everything breaks loose. Look at the rest of verse 23: 

There occurred no small disturbance concerning the Way [which was a first-century label for Christianity]. 

Acts 19:21–41

Today’s Scripture passage, which details events in the life of the Apostle Paul, has a lot to teach us about finding peace in spite of our natural tendency to panic. I hope you will read it thoroughly. In these 21 verses it is not difficult to pick out three significant moments that normally bring anxiety. 

Isaiah 26:3–4

I invite you to focus your full attention on one of the rarest of all virtues. It is a virtue that everybody pursues, but very few possess on a regular basis. I’m referring to the often-longed-for but seldom-found virtue of peace. 

Hebrews 4:1–11

Exodus 18:13–27

We’ve been talking about the very common and very real problem of stress. Today I’d like to tackle a practical suggestion for stress-reduction: spreading out the workload. 

There is a side of stress that is easily overlooked, and that is trying to do too much ourselves. All of us have a limit. If those huge freight trucks on the highway have a load limit, you can be sure each one of us does, too. When we try to do more than we were designed to do, our level of anxiety immediately begins to rise. 

Proverbs 3:5–6

Yesterday, we looked at a couple of New Testament examples (one negative—Martha, the other positive—Jesus) of people under stress. Let’s now go back to the Old Testament and lift out some familiar words of hope to those clenched in the vise-grip of worry. 

The following passage is so well known to most Christians that we have perhaps missed its significant message. Read slowly the words of Solomon: