Posts with the category “daily-devotionals”

This verse is often called “the Shema, it's a prayer and declaration of faith, proclaiming the oneness of God and our obligation to love Him. It was recited to affirm who God is that Israel would not ...  Read More

September is one of my favorite months for the year. It’s usually the first breath of cooler fall weather after the monotony of Fresno’s unrelenting summer heat. It’s also a season of celebration for ...  Read More

This week I started reading Psalms. I have been comforted by the times the Lord reminds me that He is my shield...I went to my sister’s house in Las Vegas for my annual “sibling” vacation with her and...  Read More

I have always looked for teachable moments with my kids with the goal of creating a hunger and thirst for God. One day a lesson came in a most unexpected way. It had been storming for a few days as th...  Read More

Have you ever felt abandoned? I remember feeling that way after high school. Shortly after I graduated, I looked back at my four years of high school, thinking those were the best years of my life. I ...  Read More

When we moved to California five years ago we were so thankful to be this close to so much of the world’s beauty; Yosemite, Tahoe, the ocean, streams, waterfalls, The Grand Canyon, and so much more. B...  Read More

As Lynn and I get older and think about our future, we consider the need to get closer to where our daughter, Anne lives, 5 miles south of Easton, on Elm Ave. I have made known my plans to “retire” fr...  Read More

The story is told of a soldier in the army of Alexander the Great, who was brought before the great world conqueror for court martial. When the emperor had listened to the charges and the evidence, he...  Read More

Some of you may know that I grew up on a farm in northern California.  Our family farm was just 18 miles north of Chico in the northern part of the Sacramento valley.  My parents moved to the farm in ...  Read More

I once heard a story about a man who went to see an eye doctor.  The receptionist asked him what kind of problem he was having.“I keep seeing spots in front of my eyes,” came the answer.“Have you ever...  Read More

We read in Hebrews 11:1 that “faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. The dictionary definition of faith is a complete trust or confidence in something or someone....  Read More

Pop quiz: what makes Christianity different from other world religions? On the one hand, we could point to a myriad of differences, all the distinctive points of Christian theology: the Trinity, the d...  Read More

This is a passage in the account of when Balak, the king of the Moabites was afraid when he and his people saw how Israel defeated the Amorites. So they tried to enlist Balaam to come and curse the Is...  Read More

I loved our new apartment as newlyweds. Yes, it was humble, covered with thread-bare carpet and dingy walls. But we were grateful. Our furniture was either handmade or second-hand. Decorations were sc...  Read More

Are you the type of person who must finish what you start? I'm not. In fact, I'm really bad at finishing certain things. I've been known to start books and never finish them. Start projects and never ...  Read More

In Colossians 3:16, the Apostle Paul writes,“Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you, with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing wit...  Read More

Two weeks ago I awoke in bed at 2am. Despite my best memory verse practices and prayer, I laid awake fretting for three hours. It started with some struggles in the church, then moved to stresses at h...  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 end with Acts 28).Acts 28:30-31 “And he stayed two full years...  Read More

At our VBS program this year, I had one second grade student who could not wrap his head around the concept of Bible memory. He did a great job reading the verse from the whiteboard, but when I told h...  Read More

God has written and is continuing to write the chapters of my life.  Each chapter has its significance and challenges.  Some of them were special times with family and ministry.  Others were difficult...  Read More

A number of years ago my parents gave me a loan to help me buy a car.  It came at a time when I wasn’t making a lot of money, but every month I sent them my monthly payment. Like so many of us, I was ...  Read More

This verse is the end of a parable that Jesus is telling his disciples about watching for the return of the Master, alluding to His return, Jesus’ second coming. We are reminded here to be ever watchi...  Read More

Some of you may remember the phrase, "And now for the rest of the story." It was made famous by Paul Havey's radio show that revealed unknown elements about personalities or historical elements, many ...  Read More

I was shocked to see how the weeds were taking over my garden. After putting on my grubby clothes, I got down on my knees to fight the war of the weeds. An especially difficult weed is called Spurge. ...  Read More

Every generation has its version of slang. In the 1920s, for example, "The bees knees" was an extraordinary person or thing, "Putting on the Ritz" meant to do something with style, and "iron one’s sho...  Read More

Occasionally I will open my small group with the question, “What is your favorite season of the year?” Overwhelmingly, the season people pick most often is fall. When I ask why, most say, “Because it ...  Read More

I prepared lunch for Lynn today; I also brought home prepared things for dinner. It was the third day of VBS, and I knew she would come home tired. She loves the kids and their energy, but also gets w...  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 27).Acts 27:23 “For this very night an angel of ...  Read More

The last five Psalms of the Book of Psalms are glorious worship hymns that exhort us to praise our God.  They bring into focus the reality that our lives are to bring glory to God, and that we should ...  Read More

Samuel has got to be one of my favorite characters in the Bible.  The story of his birth and Hannah’s desire to dedicate him to the service of the Lord is inspiring (1Sam 1:1–28).  As a young boy, he ...  Read More

How well do you understand the principles of electricity and how it works to power the lights and devices around your home? If you saw a bunch of loose wires coming out of your wall sparking and crack...  Read More

What’s your favorite Bible story? Is it the Exodus? David and Goliath? Noah and the Ark? I love all of these narratives, but my favorite Bible “story” is actually fictional. It’s a story Jesus told – ...  Read More

I spent all of last week at Stanford Hospital with my friend who had major back surgery. For those of you who know me you may be asking yourself, "Oh my goodness, why would she have Laurel do that?" Y...  Read More

So many people I talk to are struggling with loneliness. These conversations have prompted me to share an experience I had as a JARON missionary in the Czech Republic in 2019. I hope my experience can...  Read More

How do you respond when under attack? Everyone who knows me knows that I'm a big movie guy. But even if you’re not that big into movies, most have seen or heard of the classic Karate Kid. One of the m...  Read More

If you happen to stop by my office anytime during the year, there’s a good chance you’ll hear Christmas music playing. I think it was during my ‘choir days’ that I got hooked on playing Christmas musi...  Read More

After Jesus’ resurrection, having already appeared to His disciples twice, Peter says to his fellow disciples, “I am going fishing.” They declare that they would go along with him also. They fished al...  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 26).In Acts 26 we find the apostle Paul now stan...  Read More

I grew up in northern California, near the small town of Vina, 18 miles north of Chico.  My father was a farmer, and he moved onto our family farm in December of 1939.  There wasn’t an evangelical chu...  Read More

Recently I began reading through the Book of 2 Corinthians, and I was struck by the way Paul began his letter.  He uses a very interesting word in the opening section – affliction.  In Greek, the word...  Read More