Posts with the category “daily-devotionals”

Do you remember your wedding vows? I hope you do. Those vows are so, so important!As a pastor, I’ve certainly conducted more funerals than I have weddings, but my favorite part of the wedding ceremony...  Read More

This last year has been a season of adjustments. Besides Covid mask and social distance restrictions, we faced unhealthy air pollution due to wildfires, excessive heat in the summer summer and bitter ...  Read More

I recently saw a video online of a sheep stuck in a ditch, head first, frantically wiggling its legs. In the video a man comes over and with great effort pulls the sheep out from the ditch and sets it...  Read More

Many of you know that Lynette and I live in the foothills near Prather.  We moved here 25 years ago because we enjoy the country more than the city.  There is a lot of wildlife in our area and ravens ...  Read More

If there was a TV show called “Dumbest Campers in America,” I would be on it. One year my friend and I reserved a campsite in Yosemite Valley, and we had trouble lighting our campfire.  But we had ple...  Read More

A little background: Numbers 6:14 describes the type of sacrificial offering the children of Israel were to bring to the Lord… “He shall present his offering to the Lord: one male lamb a year old with...  Read More

These verses contain some of the upside-down logic of the Kingdom of Jesus. What does someone who is “lowly” have to boast about? Why would someone who seems to have it all boast about being humiliate...  Read More

I didn’t grow up in a family that had a lot of money. We definitely were not rich, but we weren’t exactly destitute, either. We just didn’t have much and there was rarely a time when we had anything t...  Read More

I've never taken a ceramics class but I've heard they can be really fun. Many people have said that taking the "nothing" clay and molding into "something" is an enjoyable and relaxing experience. Funn...  Read More

Everyone wants to “live,” “thrive,” or live “the good life.” We are told nearly every day through media ways we can look out for ourselves, and yet depression and anxiety reign in our culture so signi...  Read More

A decorative plaque resides on my piano that says, “My grace is sufficient for you.”  I have walked by this and glanced at the words a million times.  Today I stop! My attention is riveted to the word...  Read More

Acts 17 contains the report of Paul’s second missionary journey to Thessalonica (1-9), Berea (10-15) and Athens (16-34). It is easy to get caught up in the travel details but don’t miss the real news....  Read More

Lately I have been thinking of the glorious future we will have awaiting us as God’s children.  I am moved by the reality that Jesus Christ paid the price of our redemption and He has given us the Hol...  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

I can’t imagine going through life without the Lord. It saddens me to know that so many are putting their faith in things they create and or what they can buy, It can only provide momentary satisfacti...  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

The book of James is my favorite book of the Bible (if we’re allowed to pick favorites). It is full of such practical and applicable wisdom and I gain something new every time I read it. James of cour...  Read More

Do you remember BASIC cable? Most of my students have no idea what that is but it's the TV programming package that you paid for to get a limited number of local channels. As a kid growing up, I didn'...  Read More

 In Acts 16 we find the sovereign hand of God on every part of Paul’s missionary journey. It was God’s plan for Paul to go to deliver the good news of the gospel and strengthen the churches in Asia Mi...  Read More

Can you look back and remember a moment when your heart was flooded with despair? One where you wondered if your heart could actually make it through the night? I know I have. It’s in these pivotal mo...  Read More

I remember back to a day when my daughter was about four years old.  She burst into the house screaming that she had a splinter in her hand.  She was frantically jumping up and down screaming in pain ...  Read More

Do you know love?Do you know what love is?Do you know what love looks like or feels like and does?Love does.Love does things for us.Love does things for you.Love has a name.Do you know His name?Do you...  Read More

As God’s children, we are of incredible value to our heavenly Father. We may never understand this side of heaven totally the value He has placed on us. A value that caused God the Father to send His ...  Read More

I’ll never forget the day I almost fell off a wall like Humpty Dumpty. I must have been around 8 years old, and I was outside playing with my friend Stephen. For some reason we thought it would be fun...  Read More

As I was preparing for our Sunday Night Live Hymn Sing-Finding the Treasure the Lord reminded me of these faithful promises......  Read More

At the time I’m writing this it was only yesterday that we celebrated Easter, Resurrection Sunday. It is a wonderful time to reflect on the amazing sacrifice Christ made on the cross for us. It causes...  Read More

How would you like to be defined by one moment? You live an entire life full of moments both good and bad, but you’re forever immortalized by ONE moment…one moment of doubt. That’s the story for Thoma...  Read More

From Wednesday, February 17 - Saturday, March 27 we will be posting a daily 40 Days for Life Prayer Devotional throughout the 40 Days for Life. From Sunday, March 28 - Sunday, April 4 we will be posti...  Read More

I just finished reading through the book of Isaiah. The Lord drew my attention to these verses in the 46th chapter. Maybe my mind was drawn to it because of my age or the troubling times we live in. I...  Read More

Yesterday in his sermon Pastor Jim reminded us of the need we all have for intimate relationships. He reminded us that many things can fill our time but no matter how busy we are, we need to make time...  Read More

As I lift the tight-fitting lid of my 2-lb. box of See’s Candy, I drink in the aroma of chocolate. Feasting on the choices, I select only one. I sink into my comfy chair, as I take the first nibble. T...  Read More

You have big plans, I know. We all do. You do, I do, we do.We expect BIG things for the future.We work hard. We play hard. We guess and plan and hope and prepare and pray.We trust God. We trust that G...  Read More

Acts 15 presents TWO fights in the early church--one corporately and one personally.Fight #1 is The Worthwhile Battle: Grace vs. Law (15:1-35). In one corner are the Legalists: "Faith in Christ is NOT...  Read More

Jesus said some things that were pretty hard to comprehend. For example, at one point He said if you have faith you can tell a mountain to go jump in the ocean and it will do it. (Mark 11:23). I imagi...  Read More

When’s the last time you stepped into 6 feet of fresh powder snow? I did recently, where the snow was so deep that I had to crawl on my hands and knees just to traverse about 30 feet! I was amazed at ...  Read More

Having been a Christian for many many years, it always does me well to come back to some of the fundamentals of the faith. Pastor Jim often speaks of the basic tenets we know as salvation in Christ al...  Read More

Most people probably don’t think of themselves as strong and courageous. That’s why we needverses like Joshua 1:9 – to remind ourselves that we can be. By the grace of God, we can bestrong and courage...  Read More

I find myself living at an age that is causing me to look back over the timeline of mylife. I see a pattern of how God has worked throughout my life. One of the thingsGod has impressed on me is that I...  Read More

We as humans don’t really like change. When everything is going great, we wonder why we would ever want to risk changing. “If it’s not broke, don’t fix it” is often the mantra. Even if things are bad,...  Read More

This week has been difficult for our family as we have watched our loved ones endure heartbreaking grief, patient endurance of illness and the rewarding joy of eternal salvation. We have experienced t...  Read More