Fyodor Dostoevsky once said, “The soul is healed by being with children.” The disciples ironically sought to prevent Jesus from walking the road of suffering and death and now they want to keep Him from trouble and fatigue. They were insensitive to many things that the Spirit would later correct (cf. Acts 2). Jesus wanted children to come to Him because “children in their receptivity and dependenc...  Read More

Dallas Willard once said, “There is no avoiding the fact that we live at the mercy of our ideas. This is never truer than with our ideas about God” (Hearing God). The Jews held some curious notions about God that both prevented them from experiencing true union with Him and kept them from being a true light to the world. They managed the things of God, but they didn’t really know a thing about Him...  Read More

Voltaire once said, “Our wretched species is so made that those who walk on the well-trodden path always throw stones at those who are showing a new road.” The French philosopher and atheist was not a believer, but his words apply figuratively and literally to Paul’s life. This missionary of the gospel was literally blazing a new trail of hope for the world, and he was being persecuted for it by J...  Read More

Spinoza once said, “He alone is free who lives with free consent under the entire guidance of reason.” Well, maybe so, or, in a Christian sense, not exactly. We do know that God gave us minds with which to reason and make choices; however, I also know that Christians will yield to the guidance of the Spirit. Today is “Theology Wednesday!” Our devotional will develop a key understanding of Pneumato...  Read More

Opening sentence alert! A long quote follows, but it is precisely what we need to read to capture the essence of today’s devotional. “We must devote, not only times and places to prayer, but be everywhere in the spirit of devotion; with hearts always set toward heaven, looking up to God in all our actions, and doing everything as His servants; living in the world as in a holy temple of God, and al...  Read More

Jesus taught His disciples that our Heavenly Father, who loves us much more than any earthly parent does, will not toy with us but give us what we need (Matthew 7:9). Our focal passage today seems to contradict those words and may leave some people scratching their heads wondering what God was doing to Israel.The people were parched, and God gives them a principle for living under His leadership. ...  Read More

The reply is, “Aren’t you getting ahead of yourself?” There! I have written the answer to the big question for today prior to stating the question, so please bear with me. We have just stepped into masonry class and today’s lesson covers the how and why of brick-making, so get your shop aprons on! Instruction in such a class typically begins with a teaching segment followed by practical skill trai...  Read More

“There is an intimate connection between the life of the Christian here and the enjoyment and the glory in the day of Christ’s appearing” (George Müller of Bristol, 430). That man of faith, George Müller, certainly summed up a biblical worldview. This series of devotionals and this writer hold to the same way of seeing the world. We must not doubt that there is a coming day of reward for the faith...  Read More

How effectively do we engage in “kingdom peacemaking?” Jesus displayed His authority by His teaching and by His power over disease, nature, death, and sin. He was showing people that He was God’s Messiah over and over through each display of power. Sadly, His followers did not avail themselves of that same power in ministry. We too often limit Christ’s impact by quantifying ministry (e.g., benevol...  Read More

Let’s begin the new year with an assignment! Take a moment to write your life statement in seven words. That task would be quite challenging. Interestingly, the Hebrew text of Genesis 1:1 contains seven very important words. That single verse in the Hebrew text provides readers with the foundation for everything that will follow in the rest of the Bible.We should read them as the first faith stat...  Read More

Did you see the galactic phenomenon that occurred in June of 2020? It was a violent explosion in a distant galaxy that broke the record for the “brightest source of high-energy light in the universe.” Astronomers reported that the light was emitted from a gamma ray burst—in a galaxy seven billion light-years away. This brief but powerful cosmic explosion was “clocked in at a trillion times more en...  Read More

“If you want peace, work for justice.”[1] The pope stated that a peace that is not the result of true respect for others is not true “Peace.” He equated this sincere feeling for humankind to justice. Luke, in his celebratory Gospel letter, records the words of Mary who praised God for His sincere action in behalf of humankind that would bring the Prince of Peace into the world. Today marks the fin...  Read More