June 7, 2021 | Psalm 79 DEVOTIONS This Month’s Issue When a natural disaster like a tornado or hurricane strikes, government officials tour the areas hit hardest. One of the reasons for this is to show that they recognize the situation and intend to do something about it. Another reason is to highlight the devastation […]
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 5, 2021 | Psalm 77 DEVOTIONS This Month’s Issue What do we do when the way forward looks hopeless and confusing? How do we take the next step Who will lead us? Again and again in Scripture, we see that God provides a way. It took ten terrible plagues, but Pharaoh finally decided to […]
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 3, 2021 | Psalm 75 DEVOTIONS This Month’s Issue When I was camping in a pop-up trailer with my family, a thunderstorm came up suddenly in the night. The wind shook the canvas and rocked the trailer. We wondered how long our shelter would hold up. Thankfully, the trailer and my family did not […]
June 2, 2021 | Psalm 74 DEVOTIONS This Month’s Issue How do we engage with God when we are deeply wounded? According to the National Institute of Health, trauma can affect our “beliefs about the future via loss of hope.” Israel had been through a major trauma. Their cities had been plundered, portions of their […]
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 31, 2021 | 2 Thessalonians 3:16–18 DEVOTIONS If there was a recording of our conversation for an entire day, what would it reveal? As our words played back, would God be glorified in our language? In their book, Redeeming How We Talk, Ken Wytsma and A. J. Swoboda wrote: “Words are not to give […]
May 30, 2021 | 2 Thessalonians 3:11–15 DEVOTIONS In the city of Joppa in the days of the early church, a believer named Dorcas (also called Tabitha) “was always doing good and helping the poor.” The poor in that time and culture included many widows. When she fell sick and died, they mourned greatly. But […]
May 29, 2021 | 2 Thessalonians 3:6–10 DEVOTIONS In fixer-upper shows, the most amazing transformations happen when a house has experienced neglect. Ceilings leak. Floorboards are rotted. The structure has disintegrated due to the neglect of the previous owners. It takes a lot of hard work (and money) to restore the home to its former […]