Scripture reading for today: Acts 22 - 24; Psalm 115 ...Anyone who comes to God must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who earnestly seek him. Hebrews 11:6 NIV How different would our daily lives be if we believed this statement? "I am the resurrection and the life. Anyone who believes in me will live, even after dying. Everyone who lives in me and believes in me will never ever … [Read more...] about February 21
January 2
Scripture reading for today: Genesis 16 - 21 Yesterday we looked at the kind of powerlessness that grips us from the inside out. It's the place in our heart where our desire to be healthy and fit collides with our inner couch potato and junk-food junkie. Why is it that the potato and junkie always seem to win? That's one kind of powerlessness. But there's another. This is the kind of … [Read more...] about January 2
January 5
Scripture reading for today: Genesis 30 - 31 "To me Step One is not just a step 'to take' and then leave it behind and go on. Step One is a growing awareness of one's condition, and it should be thought about, and the realization deepened every day."[1] Abraham eventually had a son by Sarah, and they named him Isaac. Isaac had twin boys, Jacob and Esau. Jacob in particular carried on one of the … [Read more...] about January 5
January 6
Scripture reading for today: Genesis 32 - 36 Have you participated in a family feud? That can be nasty stuff. The incident with Jacob and Esau makes the rest of us family feuders look like amateurs. In the scripture reading today, you'll have an opportunity to study their reconciliation. Notice Jacob. He continues to cleverly manipulate those around him. He sends his servants, wives, and … [Read more...] about January 6
January 11
Scripture reading for today: Malachi If you've joined me in reading through the book of Genesis, I wonder if you notice the cycle of shame. The book starts out promising. Creator God pauses as He creates and cries out - "It is good!" - (as He makes man in his own image). Adam waxes poetic about his beautiful, newly minted bride. "CEO of the garden" must have been an awesome career path. Then … [Read more...] about January 11
January 13
Scripture reading for today: Matthew 4; Psalm 84 and 85 A Brief Look at the Gospels If you are following along with our devotional reading, you know that yesterday we began reading the gospel of Matthew. This is the first of the four gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke and John), which are found in the New Testament portion of the scriptures. The first three gospels are pretty similar, … [Read more...] about January 13
January 14
Scripture reading for today: Matthew 5; Psalm 86 - 88 When I was a kid, my three younger brothers and I used to get kind of wild. Every night after dinner, our parents would drink coffee and eat dessert and we'd run upstairs to our rooms to play. It usually got loud and rough and resulted in injury. As the noise escalated and the chandelier shook, my dad would begin speaking, then hollering, … [Read more...] about January 14
January 15
Scripture reading for today: Matthew 6 - 7; Psalm 89 Yesterday's devotional reading was Matthew 5. If you haven't read it yet, take a moment and do so. You have just read what modern-day scholars have called, "The Sermon on the Mount." This is the first of five extended teachings by Jesus found in Matthew. Scholars differ in their opinions regarding whether this was one long, marathon sermon or … [Read more...] about January 15
January 24
Scripture reading for today: Matthew 26 - 28; Psalm 97 "Addiction is about wanting to be hungry, about the need to be unsatisfied. This, it turned out, was the truth that, for the longest time, I sought to deny." William Leith - author of The Hungry Years: Confessions of a Food Addict (Gotham) Denial: Denial is so much more than a river in Egypt! It's that stubborn propensity to see things … [Read more...] about January 24
January 25
Scripture reading for today: Haggai and Psalm 98 I'm currently reading a book that challenges everything I believe. My son is reading a book written by a famous agnostic philosopher, and the author is also sharing a perspective wildly different from what we usually read around our house. (My son is reading this book because of a lyric in a song; go figure.) No doubt you're tempted to suggest … [Read more...] about January 25