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 16
Scripture reading for today: Matthew 8-9; Psalm 90 Then Jesus got into the boat and started across the lake with his disciples. Suddenly, a fierce storm struck the lake, with waves breaking into the boat. But Jesus was sleeping. The disciples went and woke him up, shouting, "Lord, save us! We're going to drown!" Jesus responded, "Why are you afraid? You have so little faith!" Then he got up and … [Read more...] about January 16
January 17
Scripture reading for today: Matthew 10-11; Psalm 91 Sometimes people like to argue the point of "powerlessness." If I listen long enough, I usually hear someone speak of the fear of where the powerless principle might take them. Specifically, my friends who like to talk about these things want to make certain that I can distinguish between concepts like: powerless versus irresponsible, … [Read more...] about January 17
January 19
Scripture reading for today: Matthew 14 - 15; Psalm 93 Bad days happen. Consider the day Jesus had in the chapters we're reading from today in Matthew. His cousin and most loyal advocate, John the Baptist, is cruelly and unjustly beheaded simply because of a run-in with a "mean girl." "As soon as Jesus heard the news, he left in a boat to a remote area to be alone. But the crowds heard where … [Read more...] about January 19
January 20
Scripture reading for today: Matthew 17 - 18; Psalm 94 Yesterday I was watching television while trotting along on my treadmill. The news show featured a woman with a severe eating disorder. She looked skeletal and ghoulish--hardly human. She also looked crazy. "When I look in the mirror, all I see is this fat roll," she lamented. All the audience could see was her bone structure. A fat roll … [Read more...] about January 20
January 21
Scripture reading for today: Matthew 19 - 20; Psalm 95 Dependencies: These are the people, places, and/or things that if we are brutally honest, we do not think we could live without. They are the things we cling to, even when clear evidence indicates they are not good for us and depending on this is not working. [1] I slid into a seat in a hurry. Running late, I barely made it through the door … [Read more...] about January 21
January 22
Scripture reading for today: Matthew 21 - 22; Psalm 96 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. Matthew 6:21 NIV Maybe you aren't quite ready to tell this to anyone else, but take a moment and tell yourself the truth: Who or what do you treasure? "After twenty years of listening to the yearnings of people's hearts, I am convinced that all human beings have an inborn desire … [Read more...] about January 22
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