Posts with the category “pathway-devotionals”

In the age of Ancestry.com, we are invited to discover our family roots! Perhaps some of you have taken advantage of various opportunities to delve into your family history. The Bible is filled with accounts of God’s work through families. Indeed, the family of God is based upon the redemptive history of God’s work in the world. God’s Son, Himself, became flesh and was born into a family (John 1:1...  Read More

“He had it all,” as we say, “then lost it all.” Humanly speaking, Saul had everything that people prize in a leader. He was kingly in appearance, a strong military strategist, and popular with the people. He fits a common leadership misconception; namely, that leaders are born, and their charisma wins the approval and following of their people. My how things never seem to change! We often choose o...  Read More

God guarantees that the greatest good will emerge from within your darkest experience. Paul knew this to be true when he wrote the opening words of 2 Corinthians. He had encountered severe suffering, a near-death experience, and it was through this circumstance that God intervened and delivered him. “God’s intervention seemed like a resurrection in his life” (HCBC). Notice, Paul concludes that God...  Read More

“I sing praises to your name, O Lord, praises to Your name, O Lord; for Your name is great and greatly to be praised.” Most of us will be able to recall this familiar worship song simply by reading the words. If you are like me, you began to sing the chorus as soon as you recognized the words! Here is the link to sing it right now: I Sing Praises to Your Name. The tune gives us comfort and strengt...  Read More

Evangelist Anne Graham Lotz once said, “I don't want to be entertained. I don’t want visuals or musicals. I don’t want a vacation. I don’t want to quit. I don’t want sympathy. The cry of my heart is ‘Just Give Me Jesus.’” That was the Apostle Paul’s genuine heart cry, and his message was used powerfully by God to change hearts. We all do well today to learn Paul’s simple secret to being used effec...  Read More

The timeworn statement heard throughout my lifetime in ministry has been that the Christian army is the only one that shoots its wounded. Sadly, this maxim holds true in too many cases. In my mind, we need strong arms to lift up, not shove down, fellow believers who fail. We have before us today a wonderful passage that teaches us the correct way to handle moral failure in the church. The importa...  Read More

Our generation sadly searches all too often for the dead among the living. I hear folks speaking about “sightings” of everything from slain presidents to superstar entertainers on a semi-regular basis. This phenomenon indicates that most folks long for some contact with those beyond death’s pale. In direct contrast, there are those who hold no belief in existence beyond the grave and regard all su...  Read More

What does one do when those closest to him fail to recognize God’s work in his life and ministry? This was the case with Jesus’ own family and reminds us of His own words that stated the division that the Gospel would cause even in families (e.g. Matthew 12:52-53). We know this to be the fact even today. Many dedicated Christian servants suffer great rejection from their own families and friends. ...  Read More

The immortal words of Winston Churchill, “Never give up,” encouraged Great Britain in World War II to summon a deep inner resolve to withstand the darkness and doubt they faced from an unrelenting enemy attack on their homeland. The 23rd Psalm has long been called a “song of confidence,” not from inner resolve, but from God’s sheltering care. This awareness makes all the difference in the world, b...  Read More

Sometimes the Lord permits us to see “just over the hilltop” to know our future. A growing chain of circumstances seems to be challenging the contemporary church to recognize to understand more clearly how to live faithfully in challenging times. We know the Spirit “blows where He wills” (John 3:8), which means we may not always know immediately the direction our lives are headed. However, we may ...  Read More

John Stott once said, “How did Jesus expect His disciples to react under persecution? In Matthew 5:12 He said, ‘Rejoice and be glad!’” Good News is, after all, joyful news for which the early Christians were willing to suffer and die. As Spurgeon once said, “Never did the church so much prosper and so truly thrive as when she was baptized in blood.” News flash! Most of you will never suffer physic...  Read More

“What’s this world coming to?” has become a common expression to voice shock and grief. Even a casual awareness of current affairs will lead a person to mourn the injustices in our communities. Call to mind the horrific losses from wildfires in California and the subsequent looting from nefarious individuals. Think also of the victims of hurricanes, whose efforts to rebuild have been drowned in bu...  Read More

Following a most brutal miscarriage of human justice and a horrific crucifixion, the resurrected Jesus Christ appears before His disciples and spreads peace. His disciples, formerly war-filled in the Garden of Gethsemane, are presently worshipful at His appearing—and in the years to follow. No counteroffensive is planned and implemented; instead; they become intent on spreading the peace of Christ...  Read More

I recently viewed an investment video where a wealthy man stated that a person who invests in one of the stock indexes and stays committed to it through their lifetime will reach life’s end with an incredibly large sum of money. He warned, however, against moving money out of stocks anytime there is a drop in the stock market. He counseled that one must be willing to remain committed to the market...  Read More

A horrific tragedy occurred early New Year’s morning in New Orleans. Fourteen people, as of this writing, were killed in an act of domestic terrorism. Dozens of others, some of whom are still in critical condition, were injured in the killing rampage. In a city that is often swamped by savage storms with winds and rains, news reports began to surface in recent days of families and friends who are ...  Read More

Chronology governs our lives more than we care to admit. We schedule our days, our workouts, our social time, our bedtimes and wake times, and even set alarms so we do not miss important events. We may subconsciously read Genesis 1:1-2:4 as though the point was God’s creation of hours and days. While we may read Genesis 1:1-2:4 chronologically, it actually provides us with a theological introducti...  Read More

“I believe very strongly in the principle and practice of the purity of the visible church, but I have seen churches that have fought for purity and are merely hotbeds of ugliness. No longer is there any observable, loving, personal relationship, even in their own midst, let alone with other true Christians” (Francis Schaeffer, The Mark of the Christian). Talk about a disconnect between Jesus’ pra...  Read More

Charles Dickens once said, “It is good to be children sometimes, and never better than Christmas, when its mighty Founder was a child Himself.” The great author’s words ring true, and hold profound significance, but we must not miss the key doctrine that undergirds our salvation. The crucial principle to which I refer is the doctrine that we call “the Incarnation.” It boggles the mind to think tha...  Read More

“We often learn more of God under the rod that strikes us than under the staff that comforts us” (Stephen Charnock*). This opening statement seems like a depressing and discouraging way to begin a devotional! Nevertheless, there is a vitally important lesson in Hebrews 12 to be learned today about God’s discipline and our endurance. Let’s open our hearts to receive the Lord’s encouragement for us ...  Read More

Déjà vu moments occur at times in our lives, but we do not usually have them when reading a daily devotional! We may feel like we have already been in a “love passage,” which we encountered in 12:9-13, but this one widens the focus beyond the church to include government and society at large (13:1-7). We have been together in these devotionals long enough for me to earn your trust, so I hope that ...  Read More

In times past, parents would send their children off into the world with an exhortation to make something of themselves. Did your parents exhort you in a somewhat similar fashion when you were launching into adulthood? I read somewhere of a parent saying something like, “God has given you two hands, one to receive with and the other to give with.” Paul, a spiritual father to the many churches he p...  Read More

“It’s as plain as the nose on your face” means that something is obvious. Sometimes it is so apparent we may overlook it! Paul wraps up the letter to the Corinthians with a powerful benediction, providing us with obvious ways to revive a church in distress. His message is as plain as the nose on our face, but do we see it? Benedictions that inspire healthy church fellowship The context in 2 Corint...  Read More

Let’s argue! One of Paul’s wonderful attributes, and there were many, was his use of argument. No, not the hair-pulling, veins-popping-out kind that we too often encounter in our current culture. I mean rhetoric! If you want to know where Paul is going with an idea, then all you must do is see from whence the idea was flowing. I follow the verbs. In our focal context, he reaches back to 1 Corinthi...  Read More

We are at war! No, a rogue nation has not crossed a “red line,” but we are engaged in daily conflict. As the comic strip Pogo once famously stated, “We have met the enemy and it is us.” I opened my social media threads this morning and was hit with a barrage of venomous rhetoric in what are often claimed to be trusted news sources. The psalmist reminds us that war does not take place solely on bat...  Read More

“The person who broke you can’t be the one who fixes you” is a popular meme. It holds some truth, but I wish it were as simple as that quote suggests. Sin cripples and leaves us in such disrepair that we have no hope of ever “fixing” ourselves. Gloriously, we meet Hope, who is Jesus Christ, and He changes our hearts forever. We are His from then on, regardless of who we once were. Our value is for...  Read More

Suffering is unbearable if you aren’t certain that God is for you and with you” (Keller, Walking with God Through Pain and Suffering, 58). Job vents his frustration over the pain and suffering he is experiencing, his confusion about God’s place in all of it, and his anger at the meaningless words of his “comforters.” Sometimes we cannot see the forest for the trees when we suffer because our pain ...  Read More

Humans can live for quite some time without food and shelter, but water is essential for survival. Finding, preserving, and using water factored largely into how ancient Israel lived life. Without this life-giving source, their existence would have been impossible. The psalmist reminds us that our chosen way of life is like water. What an amazing metaphor that speaks clearly to our minds. Choose t...  Read More

“Fall on your knees and grow there. There is no burden of the [human] spirit but is lighter by kneeling under it. Prayer means not always talking to Him, but waiting before Him till the dust settles and the stream runs clear” (F.B. Meyer). What a wonderful description of the practice of prayer! The disciples model in this passage the oft-overlooked pathway to making clear choices that bring God’s ...  Read More

Despite the great length of time between Christ’s ministry on earth and His imminent return, we all must be aware that we live within the boundaries of His mercy. Upon His return, those who have not received His forgiveness will face judgment. His teaching in this passage helps us to recognize the moral urgency when we encounter evil and suffering (13:1). We should notice immediately that He embod...  Read More

It is not the giving of the belt around your waist to the poor that comes first; instead, it is what binds your heart to the Father’s that is key. I’ll explain this in a bit, but we see in our focal passage today a clear word about our spiritual health. If our “eye” (spiritual vision) is open to God’s Word/Jesus’ teaching, then our whole body (person) will be healthy (good). It does us well to hav...  Read More

We all have doubts! These questions come in all shapes and sizes. At the end of the day, however, if we are not careful, it causes us to live defeated lives. “Doubt discovers difficulties which it never solves; it creates hesitancy, despondency, despair. Its progress is the decay of comfort, the death of peace. Believe! is the word which speaks life into a man, but doubt nails down his coffin” (Ch...  Read More

Think of the darkest day you have faced in your life. One where you felt entirely alone and could not see your next step. There is a message for you in God’s Word. The Lord can take the darkest moment in your darkest day and cause the sun to rise upon it, so trust Him. The passages we have before us today cover the climax to a time in Judah’s history where their hopes were dashed, and their lives ...  Read More

“For kingship belongs to the Lord, and he rules over the nations” (22:28). A variety of theorists, however, postulate that nations typically reach their zeniths because they have forged success out of economic, military, and politico-cultural advancements.Do you ever wonder about God’s role in nation-building and thriving? I know that the above trio of reasons for national longevity is stated broa...  Read More

How important is Jesus Christ to global events? John the Apostle opens our understanding to the universal significance of our Lord to our world—in the past, at the present, and in the future. Our focal passage in Revelation 5 serves to remind us of this central truth to make sense of the world and our place in it. Let’s examine carefully this passage today and apply its truth to our lives. Music t...  Read More

Artificial Intelligence has arrived and is here to stay. This set of technologies have been here for quite some time, but what is new for many of us are the applications. A recent media interview was held with the CEO of a digital company and his A.I. clone. It was eerie to view his AI substitute as it answered the interviewer’s questions and to watch the company executive nod each time the answer...  Read More

Court bailiffs announce the entry of a judge with the familiar, “All rise!” This demonstration of respect for the rule of law is a critical part of our legal system in American democracy. However, I watched a video one time of a judge reading a verdict and then the person on trial literally vaulted over the judge’s bench to take revenge upon the judge and her judgment! Some of our rebellion may no...  Read More

The Psalmist writes, “Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers them out of them all. (Psalm 34:19). John writes, “So, when he [Jesus] heard that Lazarus was ill, he stayed two days longer in the place where he was” (5:6). One wonders if the passages conflict, and if there are times when God does not care for us in our sufferings. Here are the facts: Lazarus is ill, Jesus kn...  Read More

Do you hunger for change? The opening question will likely prompt several types of answers. Responses will likely include desires for changes in health, employment/income, housing, and even relationships. The query indeed holds moral importance in each of these areas, but it also holds spiritual meaning! I recognize this fact whenever I read John 6 and the miraculous feeding of 5000 men and their ...  Read More

“The Only True God Will Deliver and Restore His People” is a covering for the entirety of our lives. It encourages our hearts and reminds us of God’s excellent daily care. The heading in fact provides us with an excellent caption for chapters 40-55 in Isaiah. This section of the prophecy answers a key question in Israel’s history: Is God powerful enough to defeat all foreign gods (cf. NAC, EBC)? T...  Read More

The great Reformation leader, John Calvin, once wrote, “We can only be Christians if we are brethren” (EBC). I witnessed and received much love from numerous Christian brothers and sisters over the course of last week in Lagos, Nigeria. Friendships built over the years have remained strong through the power of the Holy Spirit. I am glad that today’s New Testament reading is in Hebrews 13 because t...  Read More