Daily Devotional

“But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of deeds done by us in righteousness, but in virtue of his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal in the Holy Spirit, which he poured out upon us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that we might be justified by his grace and become heirs in hope of eternal life.”

“Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?” And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it, you shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend on all the law and the prophets.” –Matthew 22:36-40

Life is full of unexplained events. We see things happen around us and our only reaction is to shake our heads in wonder and amazement. Many of the events that take place around us fill our lives with joy and excitement whiles others are shockingly sad and disrupt life. When these events happen, good and bad, we often reason that they are, “The will of God.”

There is no doubt that God is at work in our world…

Freedom. The definition I found of ‘freedom’ is as follows: “…the power or right to act, speak, or think as one wants without hindrance or restraint.”

When I consider how my faith and relationship with God the Almighty has brought me freedom, I think this definition doesn’t truly make sense. At least, not in the sense of what my faith has gifted me in my life. The freedom that has come through my faith in Jesus has gifted me the power and right to act, speak, and think as God calls me to, not as my human flesh would want. God does this gently, but with the Holy Spirit intact…

I’ll never know the exact moment I injured my back, but the fallout of whatever errant twist or turn left me in excruciating pain. It is hard to be happy and free when our bodies are in agony. During times of crisis, feeling frustrated and angry can become our new normal if we don’t stay connected to God and His unfailing love.

I wonder about Moses. He was not a young man when God came calling for him to lead the Israelites through the desert. Likely, he was around 40 years old at the beginning of that trek. Many researchers say 30 is the physical peak for human bodies. After that our bodies begin a slow decline – yikes! 

I don’t know for a fact but I’m fairly confident Moses had pain, physical and spiritual, as they walked the desert for those 40 years…

“For you were called to freedom, brothers and sisters; only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for self-indulgence, but through love become slaves to one another. For the whole law is summed up in a single commandment, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”

I can think of few images of grace as powerful as Jesus standing at the opening to the tomb that held Lazarus. The days leading up to Jesus’ arrival at the opening of this grave were filled with sickness, death, mourning, and a deep questioning about where Jesus was and just what he was planning on doing.  The family of Lazarus and the disciples were all concerned, and they were looking to Jesus for help.

In John’s Gospel, Jesus arrives at the home of Lazarus, only to find the family mourning the loss of their brother.  Jesus leads the family and the crowd to where they had laid Lazarus to rest. It was a dark cave with a stone covering the entry. The imagery in the story is clear.  There is no life to be found on the other side of the stone that covers Lazarus’ grave.

Jesus has the crowd remove the stone and he speaks into the dark, lifeless tomb, “Lazarus, come out!”

And the whole congregation of the people of Israel murmured against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness, and said to them, “Would that we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the fleshpots and ate bread to the full; for you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger.” Then the Lord said to Moses, “Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you; and the people shall go out and gather a day’s portion every day, that I may prove them, whether they will walk in my law or not. On the sixth day, when they prepare what they bring in, it will be twice as much as they gather daily.”

“Finally, all of you, have unity of spirit, sympathy, love for one another, a tender heart, and a humble mind. Do not repay evil for evil or abuse for abuse; but, on the contrary, repay with a blessing. It is for this that you were called—that you might inherit a blessing.”

“And do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased.” – Hebrews 13:16

I have many things to give thanks for, one of those being my parents. I was raised in a good home, with two loving parents. My parents were always supportive of me and that has made all the difference for me as a son, husband, father, and pastor.

One of the things that reminds me of how supportive my parents have been is a small gift from my mom that I keep on my desk. When I was graduating from college, with plans of entering full-time ministry, my mother gave me a small paper weight that reads, “Youth Pastor.”

At first glance, this paper weight may not look like much…

When your team is competing in the European Championships for track and field, every point counts. For the team from Belgium, 2 points were the difference between staying in the competition and being disqualified from the championship round. Unfortunately, both runners for the Belgium women’s hurdles were injured and unable to compete. This was devastating news.

Thankfully, Jolien Maliga Moumkwo was able to step up and compete in the 100m hurdles for her team. Jolien made international news with her first ever attempt at running the hurdles. She did not win. In fact, she came in last… way behind the other runners. You see, although Jolien is on the Belgium track team, she does not run…