May 8, 2021 | 1 Thessalonians 3:6–10 DEVOTIONS This Month’s Issue My family, to be honest, is not always thankful. We have to work at it. One year, we wrote on slips of paper and filled a jar with things for which we were thankful. Some years, we keep a weekly gratitude journal to remind […]
May 7, 2021 | 1 Thessalonians 2:17–3:5 DEVOTIONS This Month’s Issue Picture for a moment those first moments of a family reunion. The entire extended family is reunited— aunts, uncles, cousins, nephews, nieces, and others. They may come from around the country or even fly in from overseas. They have not seen each other in […]
May 6, 2021 | 1 Thessalonians 2:13–16 DEVOTIONS This Month’s Issue When Paul arrived in Thessalonica, he presented the gospel first to Jews in the local synagogue, as he often did. Some believed, but others responded with hostility, stirring up mob violence and driving the apostle out of the city. When he moved on to […]
May 5, 2021 | 1 Thessalonians 2:7–12 DEVOTIONS This Month’s Issue Any new parent will agree that caring for a newborn baby is an act of selfless love. The newborn baby relies completely on parents to meet its needs for food, physical closeness, and safety, while the little one mostly eats, sleeps, cries, and fills […]
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 […]
May 3, 2021 | 1 Thessalonians 1:4–10 DEVOTIONS This Month’s Issue Welsh missionary Timothy Richard arrived in China in 1870. For 45 years, he preached the gospel; distributed Scripture and Christian literature; organized famine relief; and founded schools, orphanages, and training programs. When this faithful servant died in 1919, he was recognized as one of […]
May 2, 2021 | 1 Thessalonians 1:2–3 DEVOTIONS This Month’s Issue Gratitude helps build community. That’s why California educator Mike Fauteux built an online tool to promote more gratitude in schools. Called GiveThx, this app provides a way for students to write thank-you notes to each other. Teachers can even start “gratitude waves” aimed at […]
May 1, 2021 | 1 Thessalonians 1:1 DEVOTIONS This Month’s Issue A hub of political and economic power. People known for idol worship. Welcome to Thessalonica, the capital city of the Roman province of Macedonia. This month we’ll begin by reading Paul’s first letter to the Thessalonians, probably written from Corinth in about 51 A.D., […]
April 30, 2021 | James 5:13–18 DEVOTIONS This Month’s Issue Dutch Christian and Holocaust survivor Corrie Ten Boom was known as a woman of prayer. She once said, “What wings are to a bird and sails to a ship, so is prayer to the soul.” As we end our study on powerful prayers from the […]
April 29, 2021 | Ephesians 3:14–21 DEVOTIONS This Month’s Issue Robert Munger, a Presbyterian minister, once wrote a small booklet titled “My Heart, Christ’s Home.” In story form, he depicts Jesus being welcomed into our heart as a guest. As Jesus explores each room, and even the hidden hall closet, Munger makes the case that […]