Daily Devotions

Jesus, You taught Your disciples of Your impending crucifixion and they, at first, did not understand. We now stand on the other side of that event. You likened the depth of Your pain to childbirth, in that while it seemed unfathomable, shortly thereafter the joy of birth turned the pain into rejoicing in a new life, a child created in Your image. [...]

If we could but remember to take Your yoke upon us, for You have no burden, where ours sometimes feels unbearable. We know Father that You see our circumstance and that you have compassion for us. Relieve us we pray, of the tendency to weigh ourselves down when You are willing to lift us up.

...when Jesus came here, His life, His death and His resurrection became a pivotal event in history. Where men had been unable to fulfill the Law of the Old Covenant, You taught us, Jesus, that the New Covenant had replaced the Old. We now stand in the presence of the Father, not based on our obedience, but based upon our acceptance of You as savio [...]

Jesus, You have taught us that the same mouth should not praise You and curse men. We know that swearing an oath is a mistake unless we are certain we can unerringly perform that oath. But swearing has become a way of life in these times. We hear people say “By God, I will do such and such” (it pains me to even quote such persons). You teach us [...]

Your word teaches that we lack no spiritual gift, yet, we often feel impotent, spiritually. If the gift is present why do we feel that way? You teach us the answer in many places; You never move away from us but we are free to move away from You and when we do, we disconnect ourselves from Your Spirit in us.

Father, do we not build monuments, statues and worship objects and art that amount to images of men, animals or gods? Is this as serious a sin as it was to King Saul and King Nebuchadnezzar? Give us wisdom we pray in grasping the gravity of the first and second commandments. To the extent that we look to any graven image with the honor and respect [...]