Tag: surrender

  • Clothed in Rags

    Clothed in Rags

    Psalm 94; Luke 6:27–36; 1 Corinthians 4:9–13 Bless your enemies. Except “bless” means something more than just be nice or even help them. “Bless” means to ask for God’s divine favor to come on them. We all want blessings, but we are being called to ask for God’s blessings for those who make our lives…

  • Kneel

    Kneel

    Matthew 16:21–28; Mark 14:32–42 (read online ⧉) Peter was concerned about the kingdom here on earth, not the kingdom that Jesus was ushering in. Jesus would have nothing to do with that thinking. Jesus chose the will of God the Father over his earthly will. It’s not as if the human side of Jesus wasn’t…

  • Calling Others

    Calling Others

    John 6:44–51; Acts 15:12–21; Romans 1:16–25 (read online ⧉) One of the hardest things for any believer is the understanding that a loved one may not be with them in Heaven. Whether one believes in Dante’s 7 circles of Hell, the Hell of endless torment, or the Hell of eternal life “merely” not being in…

  • A Time of Distress

    A Time of Distress

    Deuteronomy 4:25–31; Jonah 2:1–10; Matthew 9:35–38 (read online ⧉) Moses is not all that optimistic about the future spiritual health of the people of Israel. He’s downright pessimistic about what paths they will follow away from God. There is something in today’s opening verse that is important, “When you…have been in the land a long…

  • Connectional Motivation

    Mark 8:27–33, Luke 4:1–13 Giving up others to God’s hands can be very hard. It’s interesting that Jesus explained (in basic terms) what was going to happen. It wasn’t could happen; it was would happen. Peter, emotional Peter, didn’t want to lose his friend. There also could have been a bit or, “things are going…

  • Trust and Temptation

    Genesis 3:1–20, James 1:12–16, Hebrews 2:13–18 (read online ⧉) The reality is that humanity has a hard time trusting God. The story of Adam and Eve is a great allegory of humanity and trust. Adam, especially, should have trusted God wholeheartedly. Eve, too, should have trusted God and should have trusted Adam. However, Eve listened…

  • The Circumcision of Jesus

    Luke 2:21–39, Ephesians 2:11–14, Philippians 2:5–11 (read online ⧉) The “rush” of a newborn child and all the angst that went along this particular child’s birth should have settled down a little. The day of Jesus’ circumcision was a day of fulfilled law and ritual. Instead, two prophetic messages happen. In many respects, this is…

  • Humble Joy

    Proverbs 15:29–33, Zephaniah 2:1–4, Luke 1:26–38 Yesterday, it was hinted that humility is a requirement to experience true (Godly) joy. If you didn’t catch that (or didn’t read yesterday’s devotional), that’s perfectly fine. Humility as part of Godly joy is front and center today. In Proverbs, we read two things to focus on today. First,…