New Year’s Resolutions Many of us make New Year’s resolutions every year. We resolve to lose weight, eat healthier, exercise more, keep our house and office clean, and be kinder to family and friends. People make all different types of resolutions, intending to keep them. How often do you keep your resolutions? How often doContinue reading “New Year’s Resolutions”
Category Archives: short devotional
The Sun’s Warmth
I love to feel the sun shining on my face. Its rays soak into my skin, leaving me warm, mellow, and comfortable. In the sunshine my spirits lift, energizing me for the day’s tasks. On a cloudy, wintry day, the chill penetrates my body, leaving me cold and shivering. The sunless, gray sky reflects myContinue reading “The Sun’s Warmth”
Hear the Crying
Imagine if you will, Christmas day more than 2000 years ago in the town of Bethlehem. Jesus is born. Do you feel the crisp morning air? Do you smell the animals and the hay? Listen. Do you hear the newborn crying? Can you see Mary, seated on the floor of the stable, holding her tinyContinue reading “Hear the Crying”
Compassion
Zechariah 7:9 “This is what the Lord Almighty says: ‘Administer true justice; show mercy and compassion to one another.’” Often we study the bible in passages, or stories that are sectioned off by the editors. This sectioning is helpful to the reader, and helps to identify separate incidents and unify them in the readers’ minds. Continue reading “Compassion”
The Stagnant Pond
The Stagnant Pond All is still. Cars scurry by on nearby 13th street, rushing off to their various destinations. Sitting here at the park, I hear the distant laughter of children playing. A basketball bounces off the cement court; the clang as it hits the backboard echoes across the grass. A Cessna drones, far overhead.Continue reading “The Stagnant Pond”
Walking the Nature Trails
The path opens to a clearing larger than a football field. Waist high brome grasses sway slightly in a gentle waltz with the faint breeze. Nearby branches merely watch, too heavily laden with yellow-green hedge apples to dance. On the far side of the field lies a painter’s palette of trees just beginning to showContinue reading “Walking the Nature Trails”
A Work of Art
Many admire the beauty of colored glass sparkling in the light. The artist skillfully uses it to create stained glass. After choosing a pattern, she breaks the glass. Next, she grinds its edges smooth and arranges the pieces. Eventually, she transforms it into stained glass, matching the image in the artist’s mind. Just as theContinue reading “A Work of Art”
Faithfulness
The Old Testament book of Jeremiah uses metaphors to compare Israel to an unfaithful wife. She was unfaithful to God by worshipping idols and forsaking Him. And “…her treacherous sister Judah [had] not turned to [God] with her whole heart, but in pretense” (3:10 NKJ). This book of Jeremiah is surely only Jewish history andContinue reading “Faithfulness”
Listening to the Stream
At first glance, the stream appears motionless, its shallow green waters merely reflecting the overarching canopy of green. But here by the bridge, rocks litter the stream’s bed, and its water comes to life. Its meandering impeded, the stream ripples, bubbles, and rushes. The currents ripple and swirl around the rocks and fall over submergedContinue reading “Listening to the Stream”
Hands
HANDS “His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He cares for me.” Hands— large, small, rough, dirty, slender, graceful. Hands caress and soothe, Wiping away tears. Hands hit and wound, Cruelly inflicting pain. Hands, black with grime, Skillfully repair engines. Hands, manicured and perfumed, Lovingly arrange the roses. Hands, strong yet gentle, CarefullyContinue reading “Hands”
Growing Our Faith Together 