Category - Devotionals

I don’t watch much of reality television.  It’s not very entertaining or informative for me.  However, some of the programming is intriguing.  I have looked in on a couple of pioneering shows, particularly about people living in the last frontier, Alaska.  The families on those shows seem not only content, but appear to actually love it.  In this modern era, one might wonder why anyone might be consumed with living in the 19th century.  Log cabins, no central heat, wood for fuel, hunting and fishing for survival or indoor plumbing.  Those are some the things many would consider basic for our own habitat.  The whole “living off the land” and being totally...

The crowd on the day of the crucifixion was an interesting bunch. Many in that crowd may have been there when Jesus fed the 5000, or the time he fed another 4000. The great multitudes described in Matthew Chapter 4 were following him from throughout the region. They may have heard him preach The Sermon on the Mount. Many of His miracles were witnessed by large groups. The hordes were there lining the streets when He entered Jerusalem on that Sunday. They, “took the branches of the palm trees and went out to meet Him, and began to shout, “Hosanna! BLESSED IS HE WHO COMES IN THE NAME OF THE LORD, even the King of Israel.” They were calling Him King. They had seen what He had done for...

Merchants lined the streets, peddling their wares, while the young couple were making their way through the crowd that was gathering in front of the temple.  The throng was busy, pawing through the merchandise, searching for a unique item.  Some might have been looking for a decoration or perhaps, a special piece of tableware that they might take pride in displaying to their house guests.  Others combed the tables for a gift to give a loved one or a friend. Mary held her newborn closely, as the people forced their way to the paraphernalia on the tables.  Everyone wanted to be the first in line for the newest charm they would purchase and subsequently brag about it to their...

You know the kitchen gadget as a Pressure Cooker. My wife and I call it the Magic Pot. We buy cheap cuts of meat that would normally take hours to cook, put them in the Magic Pot, apply heat and pressure, then magically we have a wonderfully tender entree.  We both prefer the long stewing method but sometimes we want to get dinner on the table without all the wait.  Remember, you can’t tenderize meat in a microwave.  That radar-emitting piece of machinery is one appliance we’ve both grown to dislike, but that another story. My mother feared the Pressure Cooker, as she would a hand grenade, and my father loved the fact that she did.  He enjoyed tormenting her with the pot as...

There are times when we are called by different names.  I’m not referring to name-calling but rather nicknames and titles.  When our receptionist would get a phone call for me and the caller would ask for me as “Ricky”, she would tell me that one of my cousins or aunts must be on the line. She knew that they were the only ones who used that particular nickname. Titles, however, are a bit different.  We all have them.  I’ve had a few, as well.  Mister, Airman, Sarge, Boss, and even the occasional Sir.  Plus, a few more that are business and community-related.  Some are earned, others not. When our generation of baby boomers were growing up, it was unimaginable...

Howard was quite a guy. He attended our little church of about 150 people, faithfully. He didn’t have much in the way of formal schooling.  He didn’t learn to read until he was an adult, and then by reading his Bible.  He carried that old, tattered leather-bound KJV all the time and loved to read it at every opportunity.  As you might guess, he didn’t have a great job or make a lot of money.  His usual Sunday morning attire was a well-worn suit, necktie and a unmatched flannel shirt.  One thing he understood was what it meant to give to the Lord.  I don’t think he would approve, so I won’t share the details here.  This I can tell you, though, the man had a gift for giving...

We have, perhaps, a little foreshadowing in vss. 12 and 13 of the encounter that John will record in chapter 3. The new birth is seen here as he describes those who “receive Him”. Our physical birth is “of the will of the flesh” or “of man”. Our parents “willed” it so, and therefore had nothing to do with us. We had no choice in the matter. Yet, here he tells us that when we “receive Him” and “believe in His name” that He gives us the right to become His children. And, this adoption or birth, if you will, are all by being born not by the will of man, but of God.

Do you ever wonder why Jesus would choose a wedding feast to do His first miracle and begin His public ministry? Why something as “simple” as producing wine from water? As time would pass, he would bring sight to the blind, feed multitudes by multiplying a few pieces of bread and fish, heal folks and even raise the dead. I doubt that it was to save the guests from dying of thirst. Were those other occasions more important? Could it have been as simple as causing the host to not be embarrassed? Jesus knows our every need, does He not? Marriage is used throughout the Scriptures to illustrate God’s relationship with His people. Perhaps this is another of those times to show...

They were getting what they deserved.  We don’t know what they had stolen but they had both been convicted of capital crimes and shared the same sentence.  They echoed the same insults as the rest of the crowd that had gathered on that lonely hill in Jerusalem on a peculiarly dark afternoon.  They said that if He was who He claimed to be then surely He could rescue Himself.  After all, many of them had witnessed His many miracles.  Then something that would have eternal consequences happened.  One of the thieves who was hanging there on that Roman cross said “Are You not the Christ? Save Yourself and us.”  The other man, who was under the same sentence, suddenly...

I really didn’t have a lot of rules for our sons as they reached their college years and living at home. Now they may disagree with that, but it is my perspective looking back. Our evening mealtime was, perhaps, the most important time of the day for us as a family.  We would eat dinner, then would spend some extended time at the dining room table talking about all sorts of things.  The topics ranged from the day’s events, school, sports, theology and everything in between.  There were some serious things, but mostly we told stories and laughed a lot.  There were plenty of nights that it would go on for an hour or more, depending on homework or other parts of the daily...