Out with the Old; In with the New
It is time to not only turn the corner on a new year, but also a new decade. That means a new word for the year. This devotion looks at the topic of future devotions — self-discipline.
Herald Was a Little Off Kilter
Have you ever been a little off kilter during the Christmas season? Sometimes, it is hard to participate in holiday activities when God has been silent, and we are depressed. This devotion reminds us that God is always with us.
When Should We Meditate?
Meditation helps us grow. This devotion looks why God wants us to meditate on Him — when we experience trials and at other times.
Are We Milk Babies or Steak Adults?
Once we give our lives to God, then we have to work on being a disciple. But how do you do that? This devotion looks at what we do to give our lives to God.
What Happens When We Find God?
Once we give our lives to God, then we have to work on being a disciple. But how do you do that? This devotion looks at what we do to give our lives to God.
How Do We Submit to Each Other?
We are familiar with the wives-submit-to-your-husbands and husbands-love-as-Jesus-loved-you verses. We generally skip over Ephesians 5: 21, though. This devotion looks at what attitude we are to have regarding others.
How Do We Spend Our Time on Our Walk?
It can be difficult sometimes to make sure our walk is following how God wants us to live. Paul cautioned us to not be foolish. This devotion looks at how Paul suggested we live.
How Do We Respect Others?
In telling his Ephesian readers how they were supposed to live, Paul did an excellent job of telling his readers the opposite way of living than how they had been. This devotion sees how that way is more superior to the ways they had been living.
How Are We Supposed to Live?
Paul was the consummate teacher. He not only showed the Ephesians what was wrong, but he also told them how to do it right. This devotion look at how God has called us to live.
Don't Go Back to the Sinful Lifestyle
Paul warned the Ephesians to no longer live in sin as they had before their conversions. This alienated them from God. This devotion looks at why we sometimes return to a sinful lifestyle and resources we can acquire to strengthen our relationships with God.
A Matter of the Heart
The songs With Lifted Hands and Tell Your Heart to Beat Again can give us encouragement when we face defining moments in our lives. This devotion looks at some of the phrases in those songs.
How Do We Speak?
Speaking can sometimes get us in trouble. This devotion looks at talking to God, to others, and to ourselves.
How Do We Remake Ourselves?
We generally have something that we don’t like about ourselves. Many times, we wish for a makeover. In this devotion, we discuss how salvation provides the way to remake ourselves.
Are We to Live for Today or Tomorrow?
God has told us in His Word that He wants us to focus on today, not tomorrow. But would that mean we could miss the narrow gate? This devotion looks at the connection of living for today and living for tomorrow.
How Are We Different From the World (Part 2)
In the previous devotion, we looked at how we should inwardly be different than the world. There are several outward differences that should be considered. This devotion explores how believers considering friends and priorities are different from the worldview.
How Are We Different From the World (Part 1)
In the previous devotion, we discussed the patterns of the world and how we are called to be different. But how do we actually do that? This devotion, the next in the What It Means to Be a Believer series, discusses inward ways believers are different from those with a worldview.
What Are the Patterns of the World
As a living sacrifice, believers are called to not conform to the patterns of this world. That is difficult in a world that rejects God. This devotion looks at a description of the world and begins the discussion of how believers are to be different.
Out of the Sick Man's Comfort Zone
We like things nice and tidy – and comfortable. Unfortunately, God has this tendency to call us out of our comfort zones. This devotion looks at when Jesus did just that as He healed the man at the pool.
How Are We to Evaluate Ourselves?
Sometimes, we have trouble looking at ourselves. We have trouble evaluating where we are in our walk with God. If we feel we are doing good, we may get prideful. If we aren’t, we may compare ourselves with others. This devotion looks at how we are to evaluate ourselves.
Why Do We Try To Rewrite Scripture?
Can being a perfectionist be bad? Why do we try to sugar-coat God’s Word? This devotion looks at what God’s Word says about rewriting Scriptures.
How Is God Our Good Father?
God established Himself as our Father. That gives us a clear picture as to how dads [and moms] should interact with their children. In fact, we can learn much on how we should interact with anyone. This devotion looks at God our Father.
What Happens When We Hit Road Construction in Our Lives?
As we go through our lives, we encounter many different things on the road of life we had previously thought we had figured out. God can choose to send us a variety of different directions. This devotion looks at times when events can be caused by God or Satan.
What I Learned from the Dog Walks
God uses everything that He has created to reveal Himself to us. He even uses dog walks to show us about Him and His love for us. This devotion looks at some of the things two dogs have taught me.
What Does It Mean to Take Up Our Crosses?
We have been looking at the job description for believers. We are told to take up our crosses (Mt. 16: 24) but struggle with all that implies. The third devotion of four in the series will look at what it means to take up our crosses.
Why Are We Still Looking Up?
After 40 days, Jesus ascended to heaven. The disciples continued to look for Him in the clouds, until the angel told them He wasn’t coming back. This devotion discusses where we should fix our gaze as we wait for Jesus to return.
Did Jesus Experience Peer Pressure?
More and more, believers are pressured to conform to the worldview. Peer pressure isn’t something new. This devotion looks at the pressure Jesus suffered while on the cross.
How Are We to Be In the World But Not Of the World?
At the end of the Passover meal, Jesus prayed for His disciples. Jesus specifically asked God to protect them as they live out their lives as His followers in a sinful world. This devotion looks at what why He prayed for His disciples and how we can apply that to today.
Who Was Judas Iscariot?
Human nature is give me, give me, give me. Judas asked, “What do I get for betraying Jesus?” Judas may or may not be getting a bad rep. This devotion looks at who Judas Iscariot was and what we know about why he betrayed Jesus.
God Draws Near to Us
Knowing what God wants for our lives is sometimes difficult to determine. However, God will draw near to us to draw us to Him. This devotion looks at how God can initiate the contact to bring us to Him.
God Wants Us to Enjoy Life
Life is challenging. Followers of Christ should find enjoyment in the lives they have been given. This devotion looks at being content in life as we serve Christ.
Do We Use the Bible Correctly?
The Bible is our instruction book. God has given it to us so that we can have something tangible when we are seeking Him. This devotion questions if we use the Bible correctly.
I'll Do It My Way
Isn’t it amazing how God can take one little action that we do and use it to talk with us? Unfortunately, too many times, we are focused on ourselves and our lives. This devotion will look at how we need to use those moments to keep our focus on Him.
Peace, Mercy, and Love
God talked to me three times today. I wrote to process what He was telling me. This devotion talks about what He told me about His peace, mercy, and love.
How Should Regret Affect Our Christian Walk?
How does regret affect our Christian walk? It can have a huge impact. Unfortunately, Satan can use it to weaken our faith and undermine our obedience to God. This devotion will look at regret in our Christian lives and what we can do about it.
That Is a Long Time
The genealogy lists at the beginning of Matthew and Luke are usually killers. Many times we just skip over them because they are hard to read. Those lists include valuable information. Why is it so important to list all of these people who are not listed other places in the Bible? This devotion discusses how God used every one of those people for His purpose.
Going Home
There is a saying that you can’t go home again. It is really hard when the people we know and love don’t accept us for who we are. They may have their preconceived notions but don’t really see us as we are now. This devotion looks at the time Jesus went home to Nazareth.