July 3, 2021 | Ezekiel 34 DEVOTIONS This Month’s Issue In ancient Palestine, caring for sheep looked different from what we see today. According to the Dictionary of Biblical Imagery, “Sheep were not fenced in and left to fend for themselves. Instead, they were totally dependent on shepherds for protection, grazing, watering, shelter and tending […]
June 26, 2021 | Psalm 102 DEVOTIONS This Month’s Issue A few years ago, the church building that I grew up attending was torn down. I was saddened to think that the place where I had spent so much of my childhood, where I had encountered God, would be demolished. While I realized that it […]
June 23, 2021 | Psalm 97-98 DEVOTIONS This Month’s Issue The United States is deeply divided politically. One reason is that many people look to political victories as their primary source of hope for the nation. When their party wins an election, they are elated. When their candidate of choice is defeated, they fall into […]
June 12, 2021 | Psalm 84 DEVOTIONS This Month’s Issue When we were engaged, my wife and I had a long-distance relationship. We lived about four hours apart by car and every weekend one of us would make the pilgrimage to see the other. All year, we would wait impatiently for the end of each […]
June 10, 2021 | Psalm 82 DEVOTIONS This Month’s Issue When 33-year-old Bob Pierce was in China holding evangelistic meetings, he was introduced to an abandoned Chinese girl. After she became a Christian, the girl’s father beat her and threw her out into the street. She had lost everything. Moved by her story, Bob gave […]
June 6, 2021 | Psalm 78 DEVOTIONS This Month’s Issue In his classic work Knowing God, J. I. Packer points out the difference between knowing about God and knowing God. He understood that it was possible for someone to have sound theology, know the Bible well, be involved in ministry, and yet not really have […]
June 4, 2021 | Psalm 76 DEVOTIONS This Month’s Issue Investment advisors often use the phrase “Past performance is no guarantee of future result.” The phrase serves as a kind of disclaimer. Just because a particular company has performed well in the past, there is no guarantee it will do so in the future. While […]
June 1, 2021 | Psalm 73 DEVOTIONS This Month’s Issue Roman author Phaedrus once quipped, “Things are not always what they seem; the first appearance deceives many.” When the author of Psalm 73 looked around him, his first impression was of a world where the wicked flourish. He found himself envious of the arrogant (v. […]
May 10, 2021 | 1 Thessalonians 4:1–8 DEVOTIONS This Month’s Issue Following Jesus should impact every area of our life. It changes the way we work and how we spend our money. It shapes the way we treat our neighbors and the way we address conflict in our own homes and marriages. But in this […]
May 4, 2021 | 1 Thessalonians 2:1–7 DEVOTIONS This Month’s Issue Whom are you trying to please: people or God? In their commentary on 1 Thessalonians, John F. Walvoord and Mark Hitchcock wrote: “The most basic test of any service rendered for God is the question, ‘Is it pleasing to Him?’ Our little houses of […]