Advent Devotionals 2022

When I sat down to assemble my thoughts on the topic of peace, the first verse that came to mind is one that God has been bringing to my mind any time I find myself lacking peace over the past few months.  The verse is Isaiah 26:3-4 You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you. Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord God is an everlasting rock. Specifically the first…

In his poem “Christmas Bells” Longfellow writes in the shadow of the Civil War in America. When North and South are less than united. Peace seems like a distant memory or a long way off finish line. Peace seems unattainable at times in life. Circumstances, situations, and even long seasons can be times where it seems it isn’t possible for peace to be present. Have you been there? Do you realize that is not what God wants for you? He…

This is the story of one of the most emotionally charged weeks of my life.  It started with something that, according to my wife, is trivial: a football game.  Before we get started, I want to remind everyone that I’m a Lions fan… The Lions were currently in first place in the NFC North, the playoffs seemed like a real possibility, and they were coming to town to play the Eagles on December 8th, 2013.  It ended up being a…

“The joy of the Lord is my strength.” You’ve heard that phrase before right? My question for you is, do you realize where it comes from? Where in God’s book, in His Holy Word, is it located? Do you know if it is the Old Testament or New Testament? Does it sound poetic like a psalm? Or did Paul write it while in prison? Did you know it was Nehemiah chapter 8? It is. The people are gathered at the…

Rejoice, the Lord is King The immense step from the Babe at Bethlehem to the living, reigning triumphant Lord Jesus, returning to earth for his own people–that is the glorious truth proclaimed throughout Scripture. As the bells ring out the joys of Christmas, may we also be alert for the final trumpet that will announce his return, when we shall always be with Him. Alan Redpath (Evangelist and Former President of Moody Bible Institute This weekend I had the privilege…

I’m a DIY home project guy. Not because I really enjoy it, but because my labor is always the right price… FREE!  Over the years I’ve noticed a pattern has developed in my DIY projects.  It starts with extreme confidence that I know what I’m doing and this project will go smoothly. This confidence is quickly shoved aside by the realization that I have no idea what I’m doing, when I encounter something I didn’t think about 5 minutes into…

Love has changed the world. Love is changing the world. Love will change the world. In 1 Corinthians 13:4-8a the Bible declares what love is. In 1 John 4:7-21 we learn three more declarations: 1) God is Love. 2) There is no fear in love. 3) Whoever loves God must also love his brother. Jesus’ words even affirm the third declaration from 1 John because in Matthew 22:34-40 when asked “What is the greatest commandment?”, Jesus gives them the greatest,…

Have you ever felt outside the loop? Like you were missing something? In Genesis 29 we meet two young sisters, Leah and Rachel. It is very likely that you know about the romance and adventures of Rachel and her husband Jacob. You may even know about the heartbreaking moments for Leah when her dad’s scheme (sneaking her into a marriage when Jacob thought he was marrying her sister) is figured out by Jacob on their first day of married life.…

There was a time a number of years ago when my favorite basketball team had a bright future. If you’re a sports fan you know what it feels like when it looks like your team has years of championship potential in front of them. Because the future was bright, I decided it was time to order a hoodie…  Every day I’d wake up and run to the front door to see if it had arrived and I would return multiple…

How are you doing today? How is your spirit? What is your level of morale? How’s your attitude? Hope is a powerful thing. Are you letting it influence you? It was hope that had the little orphan Annie singing “The Sun’ll Come Out Tomorrow.”  It was hope of being together that united Woody the Cowboy and all of Andy’s toys to save Buzz Lightyear from a certain end in the hands of Sid, the kid next door.  It was hope…