September 20, 2020 | 1 Samuel 20:1–42 DEVOTIONS This Month’s Issue When Jesus began His public ministry, His family was shocked. At one point, when He was preaching to a large crowd in a house, his family members tried to remove Him by force, claiming that He had lost His mind (Mark 3:21). Jesus […]
September 19, 2020 | 1 Samuel 19:1–24 DEVOTIONS This Month’s Issue According to tradition, the emperor Constantine saw a vision of a blazing cross against the sun and words which said, “In this sign, you will conquer.” Constantine’s troops placed this symbol, made up of the Greek letters Chi and Rho, on their shields. He […]
September 16, 2020 | 1 Samuel 16:1–23 DEVOTIONS This Month’s Issue Some say the modern age of image-oriented political campaigning began in 1960 with the first televised presidential debate between John Kennedy and Richard Nixon. On camera, Kennedy seemed more comfortable than Nixon, whose appearance and awkward manner made him appear less confident to viewers. […]
September 11, 2020 | 1 Samuel 11:1-14 DEVOTIONS This Month’s Issue We usually think of fear as a reaction to something that causes negative emotions: enclosed spaces, snakes, heights, darkness, or even public speaking. But in the Bible, the term “fear” is often used to communicate the reverence we have for God. This includes a […]
September 6, 2020 | 1 Samuel 6:1-21 DEVOTIONS This Month’s Issue Every child has experienced that uncomfortable moment when they realize they have crossed the line with a parent. The first clue may be their dad’s stern tone of voice or that pinched look their mom gets. The result is usually a feeling of fear […]
September 5, 2020 | 1 Samuel 5:1-12 DEVOTIONS This Month’s Issue “My dad is stronger than your dad,” said a little boy to his friend. This childish competition mirrors the way people in the ancient world thought about their gods. The Philistines placed the captured ark inside the temple of Dagon as a spoil of […]
September 4, 2020 | 1 Samuel 4:1-22 DEVOTIONS This Month’s Issue Humans can sometimes fool them-selves in believing that they can control God. Israel knew better. In his book The Divine Commodity, author Skye Jethani observes, “Rather than a religion of superstition or divination, attempting to control and manipulate God, the Hebrew Scriptures called them […]
September 3, 2020 | 1 Samuel 3:1–21 DEVOTIONS This Month’s Issue When one-year-old Ayla Esler was able to hear for the very first time, she burst into a big smile, putting her hand to her ear and wiggling with glee. She was born deaf, but a device called a cochlear implant, which stimulates the auditory […]
July 23, 2020 | Joshua 13:1–7 DEVOTIONS This Month’s Issue You are never too old (or too young) for God to use you! Evangelist Billy Graham noted that God’s plan for us is not limited by our age: “Scripture is filled with examples of men and women whom God used late in life, often with […]
July 20, 2020 | Job 38:2–15 DEVOTIONS This Month’s Issue When you think about God and science, do they seem pitted against one another? Some people wrestle with accepting biblical accounts that seem to go against the natural order of things. They ask questions such as: Was the world created by the spoken word of […]