DEVOTIONS THAT MATTER

"Praise the Lord. Praise God in his sanctuary; praise him in his mighty heavens. Praise him for his acts of power; Praise him for his surpassing greatness. Praise him with the sounding of the trumpet, praise him with the harp and lyre, praise him with timbrel and dancing, praise him with the strings and pipe, praise him with the clash of cymbals, praise him with resounding cymbals. Let everything ...

"Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” About 15 years ago, I remember standing in a resource room at a large church cleaning up following a week of Vacation Bible School. I leaned down to pick up a large tub of...

oday, spend some time studying 1 Kings 18 and 19.Elijah witnesses the work of his Lord over the prophets of Baal and sees firsthand the power of the God he serves. However, when he hears Jezebel's threats, he flees into the desert wilderness, afraid. When we are afraid, we are unable to think clearly and rationally. Fear draws us away from the very one who gives us breath and life. Remember, Adam ...

They did not say, ‘Where is the LordWho brought us up out of the land of Egypt,Who led us through the wilderness,Through a land of deserts and of pits,Through a land of drought and of deep darkness,Through a land that no one crossedAnd where no man dwelt?’ We are no different today than the Israelites who wandered in the wilderness as a process toward the promised land. In fact, they often desired...

“Then Jesus turned, and saw them following, and saith unto them, What seek ye? They said unto him, Rabbi, (which is to say, being interpreted, Master,) where dwellest thou?  He saith unto them, Come and see. They came and saw where he dwelt, and abode with him that day…”Jesus’ first question in John’s Gospel is deeply personal: “What seek ye?” Not, “What do you believe?” Not, “What do you know?” B...

"And Jesus said unto Simon, Fear not; from henceforth thou shalt catch men. And when they had brought their ships to land, they forsook all, and followed him.”Peter’s life smells like fish and feels like routine. He knows these waters. He knows this work. He knows what to expect from a long night of labor and empty nets. Then Jesus steps into his boat—and nothing stays ordinary again.After the mir...

“And Jesus said unto Simon, Fear not; from henceforth thou shalt catch men. And when they had brought their ships to land, they forsook all, and followed him.”Peter’s life smells like fish and feels like routine. He knows these waters. He knows this work. He knows what to expect from a long night of labor and empty nets. Then Jesus steps into his boat—and nothing stays ordinary again.After the mir...

"Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve. Then the devil leaveth him, and, behold, angels came and ministered unto him.”The final temptation is not really about kingdoms—it’s about allegiance. The devil offers Jesus influence, authority, and visible success, but at a hidden cost: worship. It is the olde...

“But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.”Hunger has a way of clarifying what matters most. When Jesus speaks these words, He has been fasting for forty days in the wilderness. His body is weak. His stomach is empty. And it is precisely in that moment that the tempter suggests a reasonable solution: turn ...

Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil.  And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterward an hungred.”It may surprise us that Jesus does not go from His baptism straight into public ministry. Instead, the Spirit leads Him into the wilderness. Not away from danger—but into it. Not toward comfort—but toward testing.The wilderness in Scr...

“Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy lovingkindness: according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions. Wash me throughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin.”Psalm 51 is not the prayer of someone trying to save face. It is the prayer of someone who knows he has none left. David writes these words after his sin with Bathsheba has been exposed—a failur...

“Therefore also now, saith the LORD, turn ye even to me with all your heart, and with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning: And rend your heart, and not your garments, and turn unto the LORD your God: for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repenteth him of the evil.”Lent begins not with our effort, but with God’s invitation. Through the prophet Joel, the...

Consistency. If we truly began to understand the strength that rests in that one word our lives would be limitless! In our spiritual life consistency is so vital Jesus tells us; “Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in...

The question for the church today is not whether it is well-fed, but whether it is well-sent. ...

Conflict is unavoidable. From the first pages of Scripture to the headlines of today, human relationships have always carried the weight of disagreement, misunderstanding, and conflict. Yet what feels new is not conflict itself but our inability to handle it well. Good grief we are at a record fail of mastering conflict resolution!We live in a reactionary age. We speak before we listen. We form op...

It’s a New Year! Time to reflect, refocus, recommit, and remember the nourishment that gives us life. How we spend our time. Where we invest our energy. What we nourish our physical and spiritual bodies with.I am a student of God’s Word; however, I have yet to commit to reading the Bible in chronological order from Genesis to Revelation. So this year, I’m accepting the challenge! I picked up the D...

I woke this morning with an image in my thoughts and a word resting quietly on my heart.Some of my favorite memories as a child are falling asleep with anticipation that the subtle flurries of snow that began falling during dinner would be a covered winter wonderland upon waking the next morning.  There is a silence that only comes after a heavy snowfall. Before my feet ever touched the floor the ...

A young man within our church family felt the nudge of the Holy Spirit to touch lives on Christmas Day with the light and love of Jesus. As a result, we met a beautiful community that invests weekly in the stories and feeding of a homeless community in Marietta. There were many precious conversations and God-winks along the way; however, one conversation kept me up last night. A gentleman who pick...

The beginning of a new year often stirs a holy restlessness within us. We sense that God is inviting us into something deeper, more rooted, more alive, and more formed by Him than by the world's pace. We set goals, make plans, and choose words for the year. Yet, beneath all that lies a quieter invitation: Come away, be still, and listen. Charles H. Spurgeon captures this invitation as a brilliant ...

A new year often invites us to pause and reflect on where we’ve been and to consider where we are going. Calendars reset, plans are written in fresh ink, and with them comes a quiet desire: to grow. For many, that growth begins with a renewed commitment to reading the Bible. A reading plan feels like the right place to start, and it is. But Scripture invites us not only to read, but to taste and s...