It’s quiet. It’s early. My coffee is hot. The sky is still black. The world is still asleep. The day is coming. In a few moments the day will arrive. It will roar down the track with the rising of the sun. The stillness of the dawn will be exchanged for the noise of the…
Water Into Wine
Editor’s Note: It’s Sit & Listen Saturday at Devotionals Daily. Enjoy reading as well as listening to this devotion from The Story Devotional – and don’t miss our exclusive half off deal on the book! Listen on the blog or on your Alexa device by enabling the skill and then prompting, “Alexa, ask devotionals to read today’s…
We Aren’t the First People to Struggle With Prayer
It’s not that we don’t pray at all. We all pray some. On tearstained pillows we pray. In grand liturgies we pray. At the sight of geese in flight, we pray. Quoting ancient devotions, we pray. We pray to stay sober, centered, or solvent. We pray when the lump is deemed malignant. When the money…
Grace for the World
God’s Great Gifts Thanks be to God for His gift that is too wonderful for words. — 2 Corinthians 9:15 Why did He do it? A shack would have sufficed, but He gave us a mansion. Did He have to give the birds a song and the mountains a peak? Was He required to put…
How Happiness Happens: Unbridled Encouragement
Therefore encourage one another and build each other up. — 1 Thessalonians 5:11 NIV A desperate woman once came to see Jesus. She was out of doctors, money, and hope. But worst of all she was out of friends. Her sickness rendered her ceremonially unclean, cut off from her family and any house of worship.…
Your Christmas Story
Now in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. — Luke 1:26-27 What if Joseph and Mary had shown up in furs with a…
Searching the Night for a Light
So all this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying: “Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,” which is translated, “God with us.” — Matthew 1:22-23 On the night when Jesus was born, I…
It’s Your Serve
Through love serve one another. — Galatians 5:13 I remember him as a large man, built like a concrete block. He wore a crew cut, neckties, and short-sleeved white shirts with an ever-present pocket protector. I was one of four fourth-grade boys who attended his Bible study each Wednesday at the Parkview Church of Christ…
Worship Works Wonders
Christmas and gift giving. The two have always been associated with each other for good reason. The magi gave Jesus the gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. The shepherds gave Jesus the gift of their time and belief. Mary gave Jesus the gift of her womb. The offerings seem practical. The wise men’s treasures could…
Jesus Prays for Us
I have prayed for you, that your faith should not fail. — Luke 22:32 On the night before His death, Jesus made this announcement: All of you will be made to stumble because of Me this night, for it is written: ‘I will strike the Shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.’…