• Devotional,  Faith,  God,  Spirituality

    16. A Season for Everything

    There is an occasion for everything, and a time for every activity under heaven: a time to give birth and a time to die; a time to plant and a time to uproot; a time to kill and a time to heal; a time to tear down and a time to build; a time to weep and a time to laugh; a time to mourn and a time to dance; a time to throw stones and a time to gather stones; a time to embrace and a time to avoid embracing; a time to search and a time to count as lost; a time to keep and time to throw…

  • Devotional

    15. Your Word is Truth

    “While I was with them, I was protecting them by your name that you have given me. I guarded them and not one of them is lost, except the son of destruction, so that the Scripture may be fulfilled. Now I am coming to you, and I speak these things in the world so that they may have my joy completed in them. I have given them your word. The world hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. I am not praying that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. They…

  • Devotional,  Faith,  God

    14. Fear and Trembling

    Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed—not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence—continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose. Do everything without grumbling or arguing,  so that you may become blameless and pure, “children of God without fault in a warped and crooked generation.” Then you will shine among them like stars in the sky as you hold firmly to the word of life. And then I will be able to boast on the day of Christ that I did not run or labor in vain.…

  • Devotional

    13. Empty Yourself

    Adopt the same attitude as that of Christ Jesus, who, existing in the form of God, did not consider equality with God as something to be exploited. Instead he emptied himself by assuming the form of a servant, taking on the likeness of humanity. And when he had come as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death — even to death on a cross. Philippians 2: 5-8 Almighty God, you have called us to be imitators of you. And yet we have become so distracted that we have overlooked your heart. We worry about ourselves and our people. We allow ourselves and our lives…

  • Devotional

    12. The Least of These

    “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne.  All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.  He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left. “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world.  For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I…

  • Devotional

    11. Written on Their Foreheads

    Then I looked, and there was the Lamb, standing on Mount Zion and with him were 144,000 who had his name and his Father’s name written on their foreheads. I heard a sound from heaven like the sound of cascading waters and like the rumbling of loud thunder. The sound I heard was like the harpists playing on their harps. They sang a new song before the throne and before the the four living creatures and the elders, but no one could learn the song except the 144,000 who had been redeemed from the earth. Revelation 14:1-3 I got my first tattoo when I was 22. It is the welsh…

  • Devotional

    10. Manna

    The Israelites ate manna for forty years, until they came to an inhabited land. They ate manna until they reached the border of the land of Canaan. Exodus 16:35 It’s been thirty-three days. Only thirty-three days since I pulled my kids out of school and we started socially distancing ourselves. I’ve been to the grocery store once and the pharmacy another time about three weeks later but other than that I’ve been home with the kids. I miss church and my friends and dropping my kids off at school. And while I will admit that this has not been as hard on us as it has been on other people…

  • Devotional

    9. Everything I Need

    The Lord is my shepherd; I have what I need. He lets me lie down in green pastures; he leads me beside quiet waters. He renews my life; Pslam 23:1-3 I recently read that it is around the 2 hour mark when marathoners experience “hitting a wall”. This is when the body runs out of carbohydrates and glycogen and starts to burn fat. They say the key to avoiding this is by proper fluid replacement and ensuring that you drink electrolytes and remain hydrated. I can’t think of a better analogy for what we’re living through right now. I feel like we have hit the two-hour mark and I’m running…

  • Devotional

    8. Beauty for Ashes

    The Spirit of the Lord God is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and freedom to the prisoners; to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour, to comfort all who mourn, to provide for those who mourn in Zion; to give them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, festive oil instead of mourning, and splendid clothes instead of despair. And they will be called righteous trees, planted by the Lord to glorify him. Isaiah 61:1-3 I am not good at holy week. I know I should…

  • Devotional

    7. Run the Race

    Therefore, since we also have such a large crowd of witnesses surrounding us, let us lay aside every hindrance and the sin that so easily ensnares us. Let us run with endurance the race that lies before us, keeping our eyes on Jesus, the source and perfecter of our faith. Hebrews 12:1-2 Have you ever trained for a race? I did once. I ran a 5K. I trained by running around my neighbourhood. I am no runner, in fact, I really struggle with seeing the point in running. I’m impressed with people who do it, but it is not my preferred form of exercise. But I wanted to prove something…