Devotions from the Lake: Bonfire Friends It has seemed good to me to show the signs and wonders that the Most High God has done for me. — Daniel 4:2 ESV Smoky fireside smells, sticky s’more ingredients, and crackling flames popping in a pile of wood welcome friends comfortably around a bonfire at the lake.…
Let God Be God
Let God Be God The LORD your God is with you, He is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, He will quiet you with His love, He will rejoice over you with singing. — Zephaniah 3:17 God aims to exalt Himself by working for those who wait for Him. Prayer is the…
The First Ten Minutes of the Morning
Let the morning bring me word of Your unfailing love, for I have put my trust in You. Show me the way I should go, for to You I entrust my life. – Psalm 143:8 The first ten minutes of your morning impact the day’s tone and your attitude. Consider this scenario: You wake up to…
The Father’s Love
You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in Heaven. He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on…
Serving God: You’re Not Done
But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things… so that no one may boast before Him. — 1 Corinthians 1:27–29 Did you know that dead trees…
Remember the Sacrifice
Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, Virginia Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. — John 15:13–14 Looking out across the rolling wooded acres of Arlington National Cemetery, with its hundreds of thousands of white stones in perfectly ordered rows, brings an assortment of emotions that are impossible to…
Snakes and Doves
Snakes and Doves I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves. — Matthew 10:16 Deer are prey, so they are very wary. Unless they’ve been desensitized by a lot of human contact, they tend to spook easily. Dogs in particular will send them…
A Journey of Prayer and Praise
Morning It’s been said that faith may move mountains, but prayer moves God. Amazing, isn’t it, that our prayers, whether grand and glorious or feeble and faint, can move the very heart of God who created the universe? To walk with God we must make it a practice to talk with God… Prayer moves God,…
Choose Joy
Morning Everywhere I turn today, something tries to steal my joy. If I can’t rejoice and be glad today, I will never rejoice and be glad. I will waste the joyous opportunities of today waiting for tomorrows that may or may not ever come. If I wait until life slows down, the sun comes back,…
Prayer: Getting Away with God
Weeping Willows We do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. — Romans 8:26 ESV Weeping willows bend without breaking. As their branches arch over and touch the grass or water, their light leaves cascade to the ground like streaming…