Posts with the category “daily-devotionals”

Time with God is often messier than we like to admit.I grew up in church and heard countless sermons about the importance of prayer and reading my Bible. Read your Bible more and you’ll feel closer to...  Read More

This is so amazing. It really shows us both sides of the character of God. On one side,  He is just. Cain killed his brother out of jealousy because God accepted Abel’s sacrifice, the fat of the "firs...  Read More

I’ve shared this story often, but in elementary school, one of my favorite days of the year was “Field Day”. It was a day in which we would compete in a variety of field events in an attempt to earn r...  Read More

A mom’s work is never done! When my kids were pre-school age, I remember the complete and utter exhaustion.  I worked on the house, dinner and caring for my kids and hubby faithfully. But it was reall...  Read More

Most of us have expressed frustrations with time demands. “I’m so swamped at work, I can’t seem to stay ahead of it all.” “I feel like all I’m doing is putting out fires.” “I work late every night, I ...  Read More

I think the Psalms might be my best friends! They give us some of the most marvelous invitations in all the inspired word! It is almost beyond belief! But then we serve an unimaginable God, who accomp...  Read More

(Note: Welcome to my on-going devotional series in Acts 16–28. I encourage you to look back at past devotionals and stay current. Today we come to Acts 22).Acts 22 puts us with the apostle Paul, defen...  Read More

There is a lot going on in our world today that can cause us to experience anxious moments and worry.  When we become anxious about something, our thoughts fixate on the problem or issue and not Chris...  Read More

Have you ever wondered what it would have been like growing up in the same family as Jesus?  Some older brothers and sisters act like they’re God, but imagine having an older brother who WAS God!Jesus...  Read More

Imagine being invited to a fancy event or party, where the host is a very important or well known person, maybe an important political leader or community leader. Now imagine once you are seated, he b...  Read More

I am a knight. Well, sort of.My father developed a set of “coming-of-age” ceremonies for me and my brothers based on medieval Europe’s code of chivalry. We had a “page ceremony” at eight and a “squire...  Read More

These words are such a good admonition for us. Like 1 Peter 5:8 says, “Satan prowls around us like a roaring lion, looking for anyone he can devour.” There are many things that seem so inconsequential...  Read More

A number of students, leaders, and I recently got back from a short-term mission trip to the Nogales Baptist Seminary in Nogales, Mexico. The team was involved in several work projects that included t...  Read More

When the search for ancestry became popular, my husband and I decided to take the plunge and send in our DNA for ancestry tracing. Of course, my husband’s results came back 100% Italian. My results we...  Read More

I was a Youth Pastor in Chicago for ten years. I had a huge group of public school kids and they regularly asked me, “How can I live as a Christian among my non-Christian friends at school?” I said, “...  Read More

Several years ago I began memorizing a verse or two of Scripture before going to bed; those which especially speak of God’s glory and greatness. It was to help me when waking up in the middle of the n...  Read More

(Note: Welcome to my on-going devotional series in Acts 16-28. I encourage you to look back at past devotionals and stay current. Today we come to Acts 21).Acts 21:14 “…the will of God be done.”It’s h...  Read More

There’s a song by the Christian artists Tenth Avenue North called “Worn.” It brings me to tears pretty regularly. The song opens with a confession…I’m tired. I’m worn. My heart is heavy From the work ...  Read More

Stress is a part of our lives in the 21st Century.  There are always things that need to be done and sometimes not enough time to do them.  In proper doses, stress motivates us to get scheduled things...  Read More

In 197 AD, Tertullian coined the phrase: “The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church.”  That quotation comes from his defense of the Christian faith called The Apology, in which Tertullian wro...  Read More

This is a parable that Jesus tells the chief priests and the elders of the people. He describes two different responses to a command, the first rejects the command out of hand, but then eventually rel...  Read More

Reading this passage so soon after entrenching myself in the events that led up to Christ's death on the cross has caused me to pay close attention to what it really means to say, "I want to know the ...  Read More

Have you ever felt powerless? Some people feel this way if they owe an insurmountable debt or experience a difficult addiction they can't seem to get free from. This type of feeling can leave individu...  Read More

My wide-eyed, startled young daughter stood poised with a black marker by her artwork on the wall. Guess how she answered when I knowingly asked, “Who wrote with black marker on the wall?” “Not me!” w...  Read More

As a person who grew up in the Midwest, where winter lasted from November through April; temperatures often dropped below zero, trees were leafless, grass was dead, and the skies were definitely cloud...  Read More

You might not remember the daughters of Zelophehad. But we all should. What did they do of note? They stood and appealed for their place before God. They did not stage a “sit in.” Nor arrange a demons...  Read More

(Note: Welcome to my on-going devotional series in Acts 16-28. I encourage you to look back at past devotionals and stay current. Today we come to Acts 20).So, now that I have stepped down as senior p...  Read More

God the Father’s ultimate goal for us is that we should be “to the praise and glory of His grace.”  Our lives have been designed by God to bring Him glory.  We are to be the recipients of His grace.  ...  Read More

I’m not being humble when I say that I’m a horrible singer.  I have virtually no musical talent.  So when I worship the Lord, my goal is that the song in my heart will sound better than the song that ...  Read More

What a comfort this verse is! There are two points that jump out at me in the first half of this verse; first, “be still.” For many of us this is actually a very hard command. In this day and age, the...  Read More

Growing up, my parents had a library of stock phrases that they gently quoted to us when we acted up. These were a sort “parenting shorthand” for the important ideas and values they wished to instill ...  Read More

You know, sometimes we read passages and say we believe them but…I think especially in our western world, we gloss over certain phrases. Do we really believe this verse? I mean if we look at the works...  Read More

This morning as I was reading my Bible, I began thinking about my list. No, it is not my grocery list. No, it is not my “to do” list at home. It is not even my “to do” list for my work as Children’s D...  Read More

I love, love, LOVE coaching. I got my first coaching opportunity back in 2010 coaching a six-year-old and under soccer team; the Hungry Sharks. It started as a selfish way to get more volunteer hours ...  Read More

As a Pastor, I have to admit, I slip into a mild depression after Easter. Easter is our Super Bowl. We pour our lives into preaching, meeting new people, showing them love, surviving the week on less ...  Read More

We went to an east Indian funeral service in the middle of March. It was a time and a place of little or no hope. People with empty eyes. Some just openly weeping. A service devoid of honor, with chea...  Read More

(Note: Welcome to my on-going devotional series in Acts 16-28. I encourage you to look back at past devotionals and stay current. Today we come to Acts 19).Acts 19 can be described as "a microcosm of ...  Read More

I've been thinking about this throughout this past month as we have been preparing for our Easter celebrations. We are so grateful for the work that Jesus did on the cross and we want others to find t...  Read More

This week we are reflecting on the sufferings of Christ and celebrating His resurrection that first Easter morning.  Now almost 2000 years removed from the events, I want to remind us of how significa...  Read More

In the Old Testament, God’s people were expected to make a pilgrimage to Jerusalem three times a year to celebrate the feast of Passover in the spring, Pentecost in the summer, and Tabernacles in the ...  Read More