Category: Devotional

What Eats You Up?

An old church covered in weeds and vines.

John chapter two ends with an abrupt account of Jesus cleansing the Temple. This whole process occupies many hours of His time. He made a scourge (John 2:15). No doubt, He spent much time in thought and prayer as He sat and braided the small cords.

His actions were not a brief fit of rage but calculated deliberate actions. Jesus was passionate about the way that people approached the place of worship, and what they did while they were there.

The disciples watched with wide eyes as Jesus drove the merchants out of the temple with the whip that He had made. They called to mind Psalm 69:9, and David’s words about suffering shame and ridicule, even from family because of his dedication to God.

That day Jesus demonstrated in vivid fashion the care and thought that should go into approaching God in worship. He demonstrated that it matters what we do, how we do it, and the motivation that is in our hearts.
Others around us may never know why we are in worship, but Jesus certainly does, and he cares.
So, what east you up? Is it a passion for serving God, or something else?

Attitude Devotional

Whatever He Says…

The first miracle that Jesus ever performed was prompted by the initiative of His mother, Mary. The instructions that she gave to the servants were simple. “Whatever He says to you, do it” (John 2:5).

What might have happened if the servants had ignored Jesus’ instructions? What if they had only kinda done what Jesus had said? They would have ended up serving water instead of wine, and their employers would have been upset.

I imagine that the servants thought Jesus’ instructions to be odd at best, but they followed them. Exactly. When we approach Jesus, so much more than a party is at stake. So, are you willing to do whatever He says? If so, He can do amazing things in your life.

Devotional Evangelism Perspectives

Unclaimed Fortunes

On August 26, 2017, at a Sam Food Mart in Lewisville, TX some nameless individual purchased a lottery ticket worth one million dollars. However, winning lottery tickets are only redeemable for a limited time. After the expiration of 180 days, on Thursday, February 22^nd the ticket became totally worthless. Whoever the lucky, or perhaps unlucky, person was that purchased the ticket, they held a small fortune in their hands and never even realized it.

How many valuable opportunities are missed because we are too blind, too busy, or too afraid to see them? Many Jews had the opportunity to meet the Son of God and hear Him speak, but they were unwilling to accept the truth of the opportunity before them (Mark 4:12). For those Jews, and for many today, the problem was that the Gospel challenges them to change, and change is often uncomfortable.

In Exodus 4:2, God asked Moses, “What is that in your hand?” It was simply a humble shepherd’s rod, but with that rod, God would bring great deliverance to the nation of Israel. Just as Moses’ rod or the unclaimed lottery ticket, opportunities of measureless value, and often the very change for which we have been praying is in our hands this very moment. This should challenge each of us to give pause, and ask, what blessings or opportunities am I failing to see?

Devotional Forgiveness God Perspectives Restoration

Better Late Than Never

Red Gerard is a pretty typical 17-year-old. He loves skateboarding and golf … and Netflix. On Saturday, February 9^th he stayed up late into the night binge-watching Brooklyn Nine-Nine on Netflix. The next morning his alarm went off at 6:00, but he did not stir. It wasn’t until his roommate came to drag him out of bed that he realized he had overslept on one of the most important days of his life, and now he couldn’t find his coat.

After borrowing his friend’s jacket, Red grabbed a late bus to the mountain and proceeded to win America’s first gold medal at this year’s Winter Olympics. This makes him the youngest American man to win gold in over ninety years. His day had gotten off to a rough start, but he showed up anyway and achieved great things.

In Matthew 20:1-16 Jesus tells a parable of a man who is hiring labor for his vineyard. Even into the very last hour of the workday he goes out and hires workers and pays them for showing up. God understands that you can’t change the past. You can’t go back in time for missed opportunities or to fix mistakes. All you can do is move forward from where you are, and that’s exactly what He expects you to do.

Maybe you find yourself running behind. It could be that you didn’t start working toward your goals. Maybe you couldn’t find the resources or opportunities you needed. Whatever the case, today is the best day to start toward your goals.