A PATH TO LEPROSY March 21, 2019 | 2 Chronicles 26 DEVOTIONS This Month’s Issue When playing with tools in his father’s workshop at age 3, Louis Braille was struck in the eye by a piece of metal. The injury blinded him, and a subsequent infection took the sight of his other eye. His parents […]
PARTIAL OBEDIENCE March 20, 2019 | 2 Chronicles 25 DEVOTIONS This Month’s Issue Probably every parent of teenagers can relate to this experience: the parent issues an instruction or relays a story, while the teen nods and murmurs “um-hmm” without looking up from his mobile phone. A few minutes later, the parent asks, “Did you […]
MATURE FAITH DOES NOT PURSUE WORLDLINESS March 19, 2019 | James 4:4–6 DEVOTIONS This Month’s Issue “What a friend we have in Jesus,” a classic hymn rejoices, “all our sins and griefs to bear! What a privilege to carry everything to God in prayer! Oh, what peace we often forfeit, oh, what needless pain we […]
MATURE FAITH SUBMITS HUMBLY TO GOD March 18, 2019 | James 4:7–10 DEVOTIONS This Month’s Issue The narrative climax in John Milton’s Paradise Lost is the choice made first by Eve and then by Adam to give in to the serpent’s temptation and disobey God. In Milton’s Paradise Regained, the story’s climax is Jesus’ perfect […]
MATURE FAITH DOES NOT PURSUE SELFISH PLEASURES February 17, 2019 | James 4:1–3 DEVOTIONS This Month’s Issue The first sermon in American history was preached at Plymouth, Mass., on December 9, 1621 by Robert Cushman, a deacon and Puritan leader. His text was 1 Corinthians 10:24, “No one should seek their own good, but the […]
MATURE FAITH AND SELF-CONTROL IN SPEECH February 16, 2019 | James 3:1–6 DEVOTIONS This Month’s Issue The Yik Yak app, now thankfully defunct, allowed users to post anonymous comments and to agree or disagree with other users’ comments within a five-mile radius. For example, students on a university campus could share opinions about teachers, […]
MATURE FAITH AND GOOD DEEDS: EXAMPLE OF RAHAB February 15, 2019 | James 2:25–26 DEVOTIONS This Month’s Issue We know Rahab had faith in God because her actions revealed her faith (see Joshua 2; 6:22–25; Heb. 11:31). She hid the two Israelite spies from her own government, then misdirected their pursuers and helped them escape. […]
THE FAILURE OF FEAR March 13, 2019 | 2 Chronicles 16 DEVOTIONS This Month’s Issue Elite professional athletes always face the difficult decision of when to retire. Should they leave at the top of their game? Or should they eke out as many years of playing time as possible? Should they remain loyal to their […]
WORDS OF COURAGE March 12, 2019 | 2 Chronicles 15 DEVOTIONS This Month’s Issue Nelson Mandela was imprisoned for 27 years for resisting apartheid in South Africa. He was forced into hard labor and often kept in solitary confinement, but he later said, “I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the […]
BRINGING REST TO THE LAND March 11, 2019 | 2 Chronicles 14 DEVOTIONS This Month’s Issue The United Nations’ Secretary-General’s Report on Peacebuilding and Sustaining Peace (2018) outlines an effort by member states to maintain peace and secure freedom from conflict. They intend “to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war” with “activities aimed […]