Daily Devotionals

Proverbs 11:25

Close, open relationships are vital. A glib "Hi, how are ya" must be replaced with genuine concern.

The key term is assimilation. When I use the word here, I'm referring to people reaching out to one another.

Being absorbed in the function of the family of God as a participant (rather than a spectator)

...relating to

...working with

...caring for others whom I know and love.

As I read it over, I see written between the lines the reminder:

This is not automatic. I am personally responsible.

1 Peter 5:7

How wonderful that God personally cares about those things that worry us and prey upon our thoughts.

He cares about them more than we care about them. Not a single nagging, aching, worrisome,stomach-tensing, blood-pressure-raising thought escapes His notice.

This is how the Phillips translation renders 1 Peter 5:7: "You can throw the whole weight of your anxieties upon him, for you are his personal concern."

Isn't that good? He genuinely cares.

Ecclesiastes 7:12

God has given mankind the ability to see beyond the present. And He has not given that ability to any other creation. He has given us eternity in our hearts, without which "man will not find out the work which God has done from the beginning even to the end,"(Ecclesiastes 3:11).

I have italicized "the end" for the sake of emphasis. Let me tell you why.

Proverbs 16:16

Foolish indeed is the person who considers himself safe and sound because he has money...

And another reason it's foolish to trust in riches for security is that money, in the final analysis, brings no lasting satisfaction, certainly not in the area of things that really matter. There are many things that no amount of money can buy.

Think of it this way:

Proverbs 4:7

The good life—the one that truly satisfies—exists only when we stop wanting a better one.

It is the condition of savouring what is rather than longing for what might be. The itch for things, the lust for more—so brilliantly injected by those who peddle them—is a virus draining our souls of happy contentment.

Psalm 139:17

Most of us are good at criticizing ourselves and finding fault with what we have done or failed to do. I'd like to suggest an alternate plan—spend some of your leisure time finding pleasure and satisfaction in what you have done as well as in who and what you are.

Sound too liberal? Why? Since when is a good self-esteem liberal?

There are times we need to tell ourselves, "Good job!" when we know that is true.

John 1:17

While thinking back on his days with Jesus, John (one of The Twelve) remembers there was something about Him that was like no one else, during which time His disciples "beheld His glory." His uniqueness was that incredible "glory," a glory that represented the very presence of God. In addition, this glorious One was "full of grace and truth."

Pause and let that sink in.

It was His glory mixed with grace and truth that made Him different.

Colossians 1:9-10

Have you ever been in an area of the country where there was a lot of fruit ripening in the sun?

Maybe on some cool September morning you've taken a walk through the apple orchards of the Hood River valley or along the Columbia River in Oregon. It is pleasing to the eye to see such an abundance of sweet, delicious fruit hanging on branch or vine, ready to be plucked.

A fruitful Christian life is like that—sweet, refreshing, nourishing, fragrant, sustaining, delightful to be near. But such a life requires careful cultivation...

Proverbs 17:6

We cannot change the past...and that includes the way we reared our children.

All of us—yes, every parent I have ever met—would love to step into the time tunnel and return to the Island of Second Chance. We would give anything to relive those years and correct the failures and mistakes we committed the first time around.

All such fantasy wishes need to be erased. They can never be fulfilled! The parenting process offers only one try per child, one day at a time, never again to be repeated.

Psalm 62:8

You and I could name things, specific things that we've gone through in the last several years that make no logical sense whatsoever...but that's OK. We can't figure them out.

But let me assure you, God is at work doing His mysterious plan (mysterious to us), which defies human logic.

So quit trying to make it humanly logical. Trust Him...

Do you realize what a peaceful life you can live if you decide to live like this? Do you realize how relaxed you can be, how free of stress?

Honestly.