Devotions

The suffering Paul and many of his contemporaries did for Christ was real.

Every covenant throughout the biblical story has two parts: “I will be your God and you will be my people.”

When you are resting or when you are with family and friends, how often do you consider it a time to draw you closer to God?

Jesus is calling on us to show the same generous spirit of forgiveness that God has lavished upon us.

When I am judging others, it usually comes back to either my own insecurity or my failure – my failure to listen, my failure to learn, or my failure to love.

Music has an ability to connect important themes or moments to our soul.

When we are seeking freedom in our lives, we sometimes wonder why God doesn’t make it any easier.

Here, Jesus gives a step-by-step approach to resolving conflict.

Each day brings the opportunity to “put on the Lord Jesus Christ” in the way we think, speak, and act.

What keeps us from expressing our thanks and praise with abandon?

How has your home served as a center of hospitality, safety, healing, and rest for you, your family, and visitors?

Sometimes we are our own worst stumbling blocks.

Often, in our lives, we find ourselves on a journey that requires us to trust that God will make a way for us.

God breaks into the ordinary in amazing ways if we take the time to stop and notice.

Jesus asks, “Who do you say I am?”

For the body of Christ to grow and thrive, we need each other’s unique experience of God and of life.

The Hebrew people have a hope for the future with God, based on the help in the past from God.

Sometimes we have life events that drastically change the course of our lives.

We never know when a disruption in life will transform us.

Do you ever feel ‘bound to sin’?

“How good and pleasant it is when kindred live together in unity!”

Do you carry bitterness in your heart?

Recognizing Jesus, Peter stepped directly into the stormy sea.

What is your motivation for living a life of kindness, goodness, and generosity?

“Remember the wonderful works he has done.” (Psalm 105:5)

Jealousy can compel us to think, do, or say things that are in direct conflict with our values.

Before Jesus does anything with the bread and fish, he looks up to heaven.

When we find great comfort, strength, and joy in our own faith, we cannot imagine life without it.

There is no promise of immunity from struggle if only we are good enough.

I wonder what changed for Jacob when he received the gift of mercy.

Small moments and gestures produce a bounty of love, renewal, and joy.

Nothing can separate us from the love of God.

God is forever mindful of the covenant made with the ancestors of our faith.

This story has it all: love, jealousy, manipulation, favoritism, infertility…

Jesus advises us to be less concerned with the wrong we see in others and more concerned about the fruit we are bearing in our own lives.

What gift from God are you waiting for?

There is nowhere we can go to escape the presence and love of God.

What a surprise it must have been for God to show up at that time and in that place before Jacob had done anything to right the wrongs he had done.

Jesus describes the conditions of a heart ready to receive and bear the fruit of the gospel.

The indwelling of the Holy Spirit draws us towards having the mind of Christ.

God’s word is meant to enlighten and enliven.

It seems inevitable that every family will have its own share of conflict, but that doesn’t mean that God cannot redeem these situations.

The beautiful mystery of God is that we will never fully understand how God works.

What are the things you do that you do not want to do?

In this psalm of praise, God is compared to the ideal earthly king.

This story about Isaac and Rebekah reads like a romance novel.

Welcoming a disciple of Jesus means receiving the very presence of Jesus himself and of the one who sent him, God the Father.

What has following Jesus delivered you from and where has it taken you to?

Have there been times in your life when you feel God is distant? Has that distance ever felt so great that you wonder if God has forgotten you?

Even when things seemed to be past the point of no return, Abraham was still looking up, still looking for God to rescue him from the unimaginable.

What thoughts, attitudes, and positions in your heart and mind could use a little dose of light?

Dying to our old selves and being raised in the life of Christ means we are no longer the same people we were.

“Teach me your way,” is not my natural response to difficulties in life.

Hagar cries out in desperation as her son slowly dies, but the Lord hears her cries and saves them both.

In this story, we get a glimpse of how Jesus understands his mission and ministry up to this point.

What would it look like to be more Christlike in the way you love God and neighbor?

Because the Lord is gracious, righteous, and merciful, our souls can rest easily even as we acknowledge our worries and fears.

It’s no wonder Sarah laughs when she hears the promise that she will bear a child.

Jesus shows us that extending welcome, healing, and hope are the benchmarks of faithfulness.

Grace is given not because of what we’ve done, but because of who God is.

God is faithful to all of creation, breathing life into the heavens and the earth.

When you have difficult decisions to make in life, what do you take into account?

How well are we living out our mission for and with Jesus?

Read 2 Corinthians 13:11-13. As Paul closes his second letter to the church of Corinth, he promotes unity and peace … Read more

In the story of creation, we are told humans are caretakers for all of creation, including the natural world and the rest of humankind.

God created order out of chaos simply by breathing and speaking life into being.

“Let anyone who is thirsty come to me,” Jesus says.

Paul proposes that unity in diversity is central to the common life of Christian community.

This psalm points to the interconnectedness and balance of the created order.

What “languages” do you need to learn to better share the Good News of Jesus Christ?

As Jesus is lifted through the clouds, the disciples stand there, looking up at the sky.

There is a word of grace here for those times when we feel we are unfairly suffering.

This psalm celebrates the God of all nations.

Even after his resurrection, Jesus’ disciples still believe that his mission is about politics

In what way do you think the Holy Spirit, the promised Advocate, helps you to adapt to unexpected change?

How do you remain hopeful in a world like the one in which we live in today?

This psalm reminds us of the importance of “keeping among the living.”

In God, we live and move and have our being.

Just as Jesus revealed and glorified God in all that he did, by calling on his name, so can we.

This reading challenges readers to desire those things that bring growth and spiritual maturity.

Do you have any prayers that you find yourself needing to say over and over?

Most of us struggle with forgiving others even for small slights.

“I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.”

Can you think of a time when you felt excluded or belittled for your beliefs?

Sometimes, a reframing of the familiar brings it to life in a new way.

How do we, as a church, respond to new faces at the table?

Jesus helps his disciples to move from “we had hoped” to “the Lord is risen indeed!”

In what ways might following Jesus set you apart from the prevailing culture in which we live?

In verse 6, we read, “The Lord protects the simple; when I was brought low, he saved me.”

You can not go so far off the path of righteousness that God can’t forgive you, heal you, and make you whole.

Like the other disciples, Thomas doesn’t come to the fullest faith until he has his own experience.

What relationships, experiences, and practices revive your heart and make your soul lively and vigorous?

The theme of abundant life is repeated throughout the psalms as a reminder that true life comes from God alone.

Much of human strife and division comes as a response to the question of what is right.

As he is questioned, Jesus remains calm and committed to his mission, not striking back, not demeaning or belittling, not threatening.

Paul highlights humility as central to who Jesus was and is.

The 31st Psalm is a psalm of lament in which an individual cries out to God during great despair.

To what degree do you spend some time each morning listening for what God might be speaking to your heart?

After Judas went to the chief priests and took the money, he had plenty of time to change his mind. He could have taken the money back and refused to give Jesus up.

The servant values both speaking and listening. He uses his words to sustain the weary and listens carefully as if there is much to learn.