Posts Categorized: Devotional

Give What You Have Received

Scripture

Acts 3:4-7 (NLT)

Peter and John looked at him intently, and Peter said, “Look at us!” The lame man looked at them eagerly, expecting some money. But Peter said, “I don’t have any silver or gold for you. But I’ll give you what I have. In the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, get up and walk!”

Then Peter took the lame man by the right hand and helped him up. And as he did, the man’s feet and ankles were instantly healed and strengthened.

Consider

My Bible translation inserts a subtitle for this story: “Peter Heals a Crippled Beggar.”

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Testing God

Scripture

Judges 6:36-37 (NLT)

Then Gideon said to God, “If you are truly going to use me to rescue Israel as you promised, prove it to me in this way. I will put a wool fleece on the threshing floor tonight. If the fleece is wet with dew in the morning but the ground is dry, then I will know that you are going to help me rescue Israel as you promised.”

Consider

Is it ever right to test God?

Gideon—the least important member of the least important clan in all of Israel—has been called by God to raise an army and defeat Israel’s Midianite oppressors.

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Wise Conversation

Scripture

Proverbs 18:2 (NLT)

Fools have no interest in understanding; they only want to air their own opinions.

Consider

Nobody likes to be called a fool. In the Bible, fools are contrasted with the wise, so that being called foolish implies more than personal insult. It is a spiritual indictment that you are on the wrong side of the eternal battle between good and evil, between God and Satan, between wise, godly ways and foolish, worldly ways.

Many proverbs and psalms divide people into opposing classes of the foolish and the wise.

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Five Elements of Discipleship

Scripture

John 15:4 (NLT)

“Remain in me, and I will remain in you. For a branch cannot produce fruit if it is severed from the vine, and you cannot be fruitful unless you remain in me.”

Consider

Are you a disciple of Christ? The word implies much more than belief in Christ, although that is a vital element. Discipleship means committing to a path that leads to one specific goal: to become like Christ. As disciples, we ask for the challenge and discomfort of having our parts rearranged, or even amputated, until our life and our character come to resemble the Christ we love.

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Green-Eyed Vision

Scripture

Psalm 73:1-6 (TNIV)

Surely God is good to Israel, to those who are pure in heart.

But as for me, my feet had almost slipped; I had nearly lost my foothold. For I envied the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.

They have no struggles; their bodies are healthy and strong. They are free from common human burdens; they are not plagued by human ills.

Therefore pride is their necklace; they clothe themselves with violence.

Consider

The psalmist brilliantly describes one of the chief problems with envy: It distorts our perceptions.

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