mercy

Your Mess Can Be Blessed

“Why, my soul, are you downcast? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God.” – Psalm 42:11 Yesterday, we learned that we can’t pick and choose our emotions and that in order to experience all of the good the Lord has for us, we must be willing to wade through the hard stuff, too. That said, we need to know up front that things probably will get worse before they get better. Most of us are inherently aware of this truth, and that’s why we remain stuck in patterns of dysfunction. Somehow, we know that going deep will be a process, and we feel like we don’t have the bandwidth to embark on the journey. However, if we’re grappling with these thoughts, the single most important thing we can do is put our trust in God. His mercies

September 12, 2021 No Comments

Marvelous Mercy

“Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that the family of believers throughout the world is undergoing the same kind of sufferings.” – 1 Peter 5:8-9 We learned yesterday how David’s son Adonijah attempted to usurp the throne from his ailing father, who had already decided that Solomon would be his successor. After participating in a coronation ceremony that he planned with his brothers, Adonijah threw a huge party to celebrate his self-appointed reign. The only problem was that while he was busy grabbing power through human means, Solomon — the man chosen by God for the job — was rightfully crowned and received the blessing of the people. This was kind of a spoiler for the guests at Adonijah’s soiree, and Scripture says that when

September 8, 2021 No Comments

Manifold Mercy

“But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved.” – Ephesians 2:4,5 I love that the Bible says that God is rich in mercy. In fact, I believe His grace and forbearance come in waves, and like surfers catch the swells and ride atop their crests effortlessly, when we flow with the currents of His goodness, we experience a life that is exhilaratingly free. That said, in order to tap into this liberty, we must do one very important thing, and that is to forgive ourselves. While some of us struggle every day with the shame of wrong choices or hard living in our past, others of us grapple with the pain of not being perfect. And because our Savior has set eternity in our hearts

August 20, 2021 No Comments

The Allure of Gentleness

“Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near.” – Philippians 4:5 I don’t know about you, but the world we’re living in wears on me sometimes. Especially since the dawn of the pandemic, it seems like there’s an angry energy that’s permeating society. While I believe it’s fueled by political tensions, a barrage of fear, and the pressures put on us by an increasingly media and image-driven culture, at the end of the day, it’s draining. Sharp edges and harshness seem to be all too common in interactions and reactions, and this is precisely why the children of God need to step up and be the antidote. Like Dallas Willard once said, there’s an “allure in gentleness,” and especially in times like these, we can be a source of healing and comfort to people. Because we’re filled with the Holy Spirit, we have the power to forgo

August 15, 2021 3 Comments

Grace is Greater Than Guilt

“The grace of our Lord was poured out on me abundantly, along with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.” – 1 Timothy 1:14 Something I’ve learned as I’ve counseled people through the years is that shame always leads to sin and grace always leads to goodness. Nothing helpful comes from self-condemnation and guilt; rather, righteousness and holiness come from a base of grace, or an understanding that acceptance is not dependent upon behavior. The truth is that being emotionally healthy, grounded, and secure is only possible when we understand that in Christ, we are loved just as we are. God knew we were helpless to help ourselves, so He stooped down to us when we were still sinners and made us righteous by the blood of Jesus. This means that if we’ve said “yes” to our Savior’s redemption, we’ve already attained perfection in His eyes. And while

August 5, 2021 No Comments

Unfinished Symphonies

“For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.” – Ephesians 2:10 (NLT) A symphony is an elaborate musical work that’s written for a full orchestra. It’s typically divided into four movements, and all of them are distinctly different but woven together by similar themes. Since composing such a complex piece of music is no easy task, there are several famous composers who started them but never finished. Perhaps the most famous is Franz Schubert and his Symphony #8, of which he completed only two movements. Though speculation by some is that he never intended to finish it, the reality is that he probably didn’t get to it, either because he lacked inspiration or didn’t receive adequate support. Thankfully for us, God doesn’t author any unfinished symphonies. Though our lives are complex and

August 2, 2021 No Comments

A Compassionate Touch

“When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. So he began teaching them many things.” – Mark 6:34 While there are many words we can use to describe how healing happens in the church, if I were to pick one, it would be compassion. Nearly every time Jesus restored, touched, or taught in the Bible, it says that He had compassion for the people He was helping. In fact, this familiar word literally means to “suffer alongside.” The term passion, which is often used to describe the cross, comes from the french word for suffering, which is pati, and when you add the prefix co, it means to “suffer with.” Truth is, there’s great healing power in offering sympathy and tenderness to an emotionally-wounded neighbor, and since we live in a world that can’t seem to stop

July 30, 2021 No Comments

The Wisdom in God’s Warning

“At the end of seven days the word of the Lord came to me: ‘Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the people of Israel; so hear the word I speak and give them warning from me.’” – Ezekiel 3:16,17 Over and over again in the Old Testament, we see the Lord warning His people. Though they were chosen and set apart by Him to be a living representation of His goodness, they habitually fell into sin and wickedness. This was especially true in the time of the prophet Ezekiel. Despite knowing right from wrong, the Jews in his day were partaking in paganism and idolatry that involved such gross practices as prostitution, child sacrifice, and other rituals. Seeing their blatant disregard for His ways, God could have punished them then and there. However, He chose to send a messenger to preach repentance instead. So patient and

July 20, 2021 No Comments

God Doesn’t Act in Haste

“The men turned away and went toward Sodom, but Abraham remained standing before the Lord. Then Abraham approached him and said: ‘Will you sweep away the righteous with the wicked? What if there are fifty righteous people in the city? Will you really sweep it away and not spare the place for the sake of the fifty righteous people in it?’” – Genesis 18:22-24 For the past two days, we’ve looked at the events that transpired when God visited Abraham at his tent in Genesis 18. As we saw, the nomad went out of his way to welcome the Lord, and his generous hospitality remains a source of inspiration for us as we make the Holy Spirit at home in our lives today. However, something else happened during this interesting encounter, and it came in the form of a warning. The Almighty told His covenant-bearer that He was considering destroying

June 24, 2021 No Comments

Welcoming Samaritans

“The Samaritan woman said to him, ‘You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?’ (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.)” – John 4:9 Yesterday, we talked about lepers, the first of four kinds of “untouchables” whom Jesus willingly touched. Today, I want to look at the second set of outcasts He welcomed to His midst, and those were Samaritans. Many of us who grew up studying the Bible, especially the story of the Good Samaritan, know that this particular group of people was hated by the Jews, but we may not understand why. The reason they were especially despised by the Hebrew people is because they were considered “half breeds.” They held certain Jewish traditions, but they had their own Torah and their own synagogue. In essence, they believed that their religion was the “true” form of Judaism —

May 22, 2021 1 Comment

Your Mess Can Be Blessed

Marvelous Mercy

Manifold Mercy

Grace is Greater Than Guilt

Unfinished Symphonies

A Compassionate Touch

The Wisdom in God’s Warning

God Doesn’t Act in Haste

Welcoming Samaritans

Receive your daily eDevotional

Don't miss new updates in your email!

WATCH

CONNECT

SHOP

ABOUT

DONATE