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Reading for the Soul
In Thirsting for God, Gary Thomas, who recently spoke at Pleasant Valley, wrote a chapter on spiritual reading (his phrase is “pious readings”). In that chapter, he encouraged us to read (or listen to) Christian books with our hearts as well as our minds not to learn...
Now More than Ever Prayer Guide Day 26
Psalm 66:1-4 1 Shout for joy to God, all the earth! 2 Sing the glory of His name; make His praise glorious. 3 Say to God, “How awesome are your deeds! So great is your power that your enemies cringe before you. 4 All...
Now More than Ever Prayer Guide Day 25
Matt 5:43-48 (NLT) 43 “You have heard the law that says, ‘Love your neighbor’ and hate your enemy. 44 But I say, love your enemies! Pray for those who persecute you! 45 In that way, you will be acting as true children of your Father in heaven. For he...
Now More than Ever Prayer Guide Day 24
Matt 5:17-20 (NLT) 17 “Don’t misunderstand why I have come. I did not come to abolish the law of Moses or the writings of the prophets. No, I came to accomplish their purpose. 18 I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not even the smallest...
Now More than Ever Prayer Guide Day 23
Matt 5:13-16 (NLT) 13 “You are the salt of the earth. But what good is salt if it has lost its flavor? Can you make it salty again? It will be thrown out and trampled underfoot as worthless. 14 “You are the light of the world—like a city on a hilltop...
Now More than Ever Prayer Guide Day 22
Matt 5:9-12 (NLT) 9 God blesses those who work for peace, for they will be called the children of God. 10 God blesses those who are persecuted for doing right, for the Kingdom of Heaven is theirs. 11 “God blesses you when people...
Distractions
For a few days recently the Spirit sort of tickled my mind with the subject of this devotional. So I sat down to begin writing, but soon I was distracted. My mind turned to a trip to the store that seemed necessary. Shopping filled my mind. When I returned home and...
Now More than Ever Prayer Guide Day 21
Matthew 5:3-8 (NLT) 3 “God blesses those who are poor and realize their need for him, for the Kingdom of Heaven is theirs. 4 God blesses those who mourn, for they will be comforted. 5 God blesses those who are humble, for...
Now More than Ever Prayer Guide Day 20
2 Pet 1:12-15 12 So I will always remind you of these things, even though you know them and are firmly established in the truth you now have. 13 I think it is right to refresh your memory as long as I live in the tent of this body, 14 because I know...
Now More than Ever Prayer Guide Day 19
2 Pet 1:8-11 8 For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 But whoever does not have them is nearsighted and blind, forgetting that they...
Now More than Ever Prayer Guide Day 18
2 Pet 1:5-9 5 For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; 6 and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; 7 and to godliness, mutual affection;...
Now More than Ever Prayer Guide Day 17
2 Pet 1:3-7 3 His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. 4 Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may...
Choose You This Day
How many choices have you made today? Maybe I should ask how many things have you done today without making a choice. We do have habits that can help us do routine things without a lot of thought, sometimes without making a conscious choice. Still you and I make...
Now More than Ever Prayer Guide Day 16
2 Peter 1:1-4 Simon Peter, a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who through the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ have received a faith as precious as ours: 2 Grace and peace be yours in abundance through the knowledge of God...
Now More than Ever Prayer Guide Day 15
Psalm 37:34-40 34 Wait for the Lord and keep his way, and he will exalt you to inherit the land. You will watch when the wicked are destroyed. 35 I have seen a wicked, violent person well-rooted, like a flourishing native tree. 36 Then I...
Now More than Ever Prayer Guide Day 14
Psalm 37:27-31 27 Turn away from evil, do what is good, and settle permanently. 28 For the Lord loves justice and will not abandon his faithful ones. They are kept safe forever, but the children of the wicked will be destroyed. 29...
Now More than Ever Prayer Guide Day 13
Psalm 37:23-26 23 A person’s steps are established by the Lord, and he takes pleasure in his way. 24 Though he falls, he will not be overwhelmed, because the Lord supports him with his hand. 25 I have been young and now I am old, yet I...
Now More than Ever Prayer Guide Day 12
Psalm 37:16-19 16 The little that the righteous person has is better than the abundance of many wicked people. 17 For the arms of the wicked will be broken, but the Lord supports the righteous. 18 The Lord watches over the blameless all their...
The Gaze of God
Douglas Steere wrote that when we intend to come under the gaze of God, to open our heart to God’s scrutiny, to go over our lives and our plans and our relationships in God’s presence, and when we feel the wave of gratitude at God’s being what God is, then we are...
Now More than Ever Prayer Guide Day 11
Psalm 37:1-7 Do not be agitated by evildoers; do not envy those who do wrong. 2 For they wither quickly like grass and wilt like tender green plants. 3 Trust in the Lord and do what is good; dwell in the land and live securely., 4...
Now More than Ever Prayer Guide Day 10
Is 55:12–13 12 You will indeed go out with joy and be peacefully guided; the mountains and the hills will break into singing before you, and all the trees of the field will clap their hands. 13 Instead of the thornbush, a cypress will...
Now More than Ever Prayer Guide Day 9
Is 55:8–11 8 “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, and your ways are not my ways.” This is the Lord’s declaration. 9 “For as heaven is higher than earth, so my ways are higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your...
Now More than Ever Prayer Guide Day 8
Is 55:6–7 Seek the Lord while he may be found; call to him while he is near. 7 Let the wicked one abandon his way and the sinful one his thoughts; let him return to the Lord, so he may have compassion on him, and to our God, for he...
Now More than Ever Prayer Guide Day 7
Is 55:4–5 4 Since I have made him a witness to the peoples, a leader and commander for the peoples, 5 so you will summon a nation you do not know, and nations who do not know you will run to you. For the Lord your God, even the...
An Overdue Appointment
Close to six months of restricted activities have caused several of us to miss or to postpone some appointments. Meetings, get-togethers, doctors’ appointments, and more have had to be adjusted. You may have had to postpone an appointment with an eye doctor. If so...
Now More than Ever Prayer Guide Day 6
Day 1 Is 55:1–3 “Come, everyone who is thirsty, come to the water; and you without silver, come, buy, and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without silver and without cost! 2 Why do you spend silver on what is not food, and your...
Now More than Ever Prayer Guide Day 5
Ps 27:13-14 13 I remain confident of this: I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. 14 Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord. What a great promise, to “see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living”. ...
Now More Than Ever Prayer Guide Day 4
Ps 27:10-12 10 Though my father and mother forsake me, the Lord will receive me. 11 Teach me your way, Lord; lead me in a straight path because of my oppressors. 12 Do not turn me over to the desire of my foes, for false witnesses rise up against me, spouting...
Now More Than Ever Prayer Guide Day 3
Ps 27:7-9 7 Hear my voice when I call, Lord; be merciful to me and answer me. 8 My heart says of you, “Seek his face!” Your face, Lord, I will seek. 9 Do not hide your face from me, do not turn your servant away in...
Now More Than Ever Prayer Guide Day 2
Ps 27:4-6 4 One thing I ask from the Lord, this only do I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze on the beauty of the Lord and to seek him in his temple. 5 For in the day of...
A Season for Truth
The election season has started. Perhaps it never stopped after our last presidential election. But now it’s in full voice, bragging, accusing, spending, spending, spending. And with national elections come the truth squads, the fact-checkers who try to point out...
Now More Than Ever Prayer Guide Day 1
Ps 27, 1-3 1 The Lord is my light and my salvation— whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life— of whom shall I be afraid? 2 When the wicked advance against me to devour me, it is my enemies and my foes who...
Have You Ever Been a Waiter?
Have you ever been a waiter? If not, you may be a waiter now. I don’t mean you are someone who waits on tables or customers. I mean you may be waiting for something such as the end of this pandemic problem or an answer to a job application. You may be waiting for the...
Prayers We Won’t Pray
Are there prayers you won’t pray? My conviction is that the best way to offer requests to God is to let the Holy Spirit lay matters on our heart. When God leads us in our asking we can be sure He wants to act. When He does act, His will is accomplished; and we are...
God’s Reputation
A church sign near where we live reads, “Be the reason someone believes in the goodness of people.” It’s an encouraging thought, but I would like to change that sign. I would like for it read something such as “Be the reason someone believes in the goodness of...
Seduction or Persecution?
Most of us have heard something about the persecution faced by Christians in other lands. North Korea, China, India, and Iran are just some of the nations that are notorious for using political, economic, and social pressure to make it difficult to follow the Lord....
Doubting Thomas
Thomas’ mother did not call her son “Doubting Thomas.” But that is what you may have heard him called. You know Thomas. He was one of the twelve disciples of Jesus and was referred to as Thomas Didymus (Thomas the Twin). But through the years he has been weighted down...
The Church’s Casualties
Looking back over the last three months or so, a respected survey group identified about one-third of practicing, church-going Christians as casualties of the COVID 19 pandemic. No, these Christians didn’t die from the disease. Few if any of them had the virus. They...
Is There a Prophet in the House?
Today everyone wants to know how long this pandemic is going to last. So number-crunching, trend-predictors daily try to forecast the good news and bad. History-readers are sure the past is a clue to what will happen in the future. Christians read the future-oriented...
Learning A Trade
What does the word “disciple” mean to you? Jesus referred to His followers as His disciples. In our churches we often use the words “disciple” and “discipleship” to refer to the life of a Jesus-follower. So you may know that a disciple is a learner and discipleship...
Cultural Convulsion
These days we seem to go through a “cultural convulsion” in our land. Physical convulsions occur in our bodies when something goes wrong causing our muscles to contract and relax rapidly and repeatedly. We cannot help ourselves. We often lose consciousness and shake....