Scripture Reading — John 8:42-47 “When [the devil] lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.” — John 8:44 A lie led to the beginning of human sin. Back in the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve accepted Satan’s lie: “You will not certainly die. . . . You will be like God, knowing good and evil” (Genesis 3:4-5). Ever since then, the voice of the liar, the father of lies, has carried on. Satan apparently can’t speak the truth; lying is his native

Scripture Reading — James 5:13-16 Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective. — James 5:16 None of us likes to confess sin. The first step in confession is to acknowledge that we have done something wrong. That doesn’t make us feel very good about ourselves. But we must confess our sins, even if they are only sinful thoughts. Confessing our sinful thoughts is not a natural prac

Scripture Reading — Proverbs 3:21-26 When you lie down, you will not be afraid; when you lie down, your sleep will be sweet. — Proverbs 3:24 Have you ever had a strange dream that woke you up in the middle of the night? Many of us have. Our subconscious is active even when we are asleep. In addition, the Holy Spirit is at work in us, even when we are not conscious of it. This is one reason why we need to talk to God before we sleep. Bedtime prayers are important. What can we

Scripture Reading — Psalm 4:1-8 In peace I will lie down and sleep, for you alone, LORD, make me dwell in safety. — Psalm 4:8 We sleep, but the Holy Spirit and the demons do not. So even our subconscious can be a battleground of spirituality. C. S. Lewis recommended the following steps in prayer before we go to sleep. First, ask God to show you what sins you might have committed during the day. Those sins include thoughts, words, and actions. Confess those sins and ask God t

Scripture Reading — James 1:12-18 Each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed. — James 1:14 Temptations are thoughts. We see things or people that appeal to us, and we want them for ourselves, even though we know that would be wrong. Humans will always have sensations of desire, and we really can’t be responsible for those initial impressions. For example, I am a heterosexual male. When I see a beautiful woman, my first impression i

Scripture Reading — Romans 12:1-2 Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. — Romans 12:2 Notice the big contrast in this text. We can follow the “pattern”— or the behaviors, standards, and customs—of the world. Or we can follow the will of God. And the way to do that is to be transformed by the renewing of our mind in Christ so that we can see how to live by God’s will. Our world is influenced by evil powers, led by the de

Scripture Reading — Genesis 6:5-8 Every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time. — Genesis 6:5 Wow! The people in those days must have been really, really bad. Look at all those totalizing terms: every, only, all the time. And all of this troubled God deeply. Some people, and even some societies, can go very bad. Notice where it starts—in the thoughts of their hearts. In the story that follows, God sends a flood to destroy everything corrupt

Scripture Reading — Matthew 6:25-34 “Seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” — Matthew 6:33 Did you play hide-and-seek as a child? I did, and I play it now with my grandchildren. (They are easy to find when they’re under a blanket on the couch.) In our text for today Jesus talks about seeking God’s kingdom and his righteousness as our first priority, our main goal in life. And when we do that, all of the things we nee

Scripture Reading — Mark 12:28-34 “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’” — Mark 12:30 As Jesus answers a question about the greatest commandment, he quotes from Deuteronomy 6 in the Old Testament. He emphasizes that loving God involves our whole being—every part of us. In this way Jesus draws attention to the Hebrew teaching of the heart as the center of our being, the seat of our mind, our wil

Scripture Reading — 1 Peter 2:4-10 You are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession. . . . — 1 Peter 2:9 We are often our own worst critics. I find that many of my inner thoughts tend to be negative about myself. “Kent, what were you thinking?” “You keep doing that. . . .” “Now they are going to think you’re a jerk.” And so on. The truth is, we often have good reasons for chewing ourselves out. We mess up. Daily. That’s why we need to go t

Scripture Reading — 1 Peter 2:4-10 You are a chosen people . . . a holy nation, God’s special possession. . . . — 1 Peter 2:9 While God is busy preparing the new creation, he is working on a special project. He is building a chosen people, a holy nation, the “special possession” that Peter talks about in our text for today. Peter’s labels for God’s people are borrowed from the Old Testament. They were first used to describe ancient Israel, to signify their special status as

Scripture Reading — Revelation 6:9-11 “How long, Sovereign Lord, holy and true, until you judge the inhabitants of the earth and avenge our blood?” — Revelation 6:10 Are you waiting for anything these days? Maybe a long-planned vacation or an important birthday? Or maybe you’re waiting for healing after a surgery, or for a relationship to be restored. In our text for today we see a gathering of waiting saints. This is part of the amazing sequence of visions God gave to the a

Scripture Reading — Romans 16:13 Greet Rufus, chosen in the Lord, and his mother, who has been a mother to me, too. — Romans 16:13 Today let’s look at one more set of people whom Paul mentions in Romans 16: Rufus and his mother. First, Rufus: Paul’s comment about Rufus is that he is “chosen in the Lord.” We’re not sure why Paul says that about Rufus, because the phrase “chosen in the Lord” describes every believer in Jesus. Could there have been some doubt within the Christi

Scripture Reading — Romans 16:12 Greet Tryphena and Tryphosa, those women who work hard in the Lord. . . . [And] Persis, another woman who has worked very hard in the Lord. — Romans 16:12 For the past few days we’ve looked through Paul’s greetings to helpers, coworkers, and other saints here in Romans 16, highlighting just a few of them. These people are all “in Christ,” and they are therefore new creations, as Paul puts it in our theme verse, 2 Corinthians 5:17. In our text

Scripture Reading — Romans 16:7 Andronicus and Julius, my fellow Jews who have been in prison with me . . . are outstanding among the apostles, and they were in Christ before I was. — Romans 16:7 The text that has shaped our month’s devotions (2 Corinthians 5:17) has an important, little phrase that shows up again here, in Romans 16:7: “in Christ.” This phrase is one of the apostle Paul’s favorite descriptions of people who have come to believe in the Lord Jesus, are redeeme

Scripture Reading — Romans 16:1-5 They risked their lives for me. Not only I but all the churches of the Gentiles are grateful to them. — Romans 16:4 What level of risk are you comfortable with? Are you willing to invest your money in something that could make a great profit but could also make a significant loss? Or would you rather keep your money safe in a bank? Priscilla and Aquila were two ministry colleagues of Paul, and we can find parts of their story in Acts 18. The

Scripture Reading — Romans 16:1-16 I commend to you our sister Phoebe, a deacon of the church in Cenchreae. — Romans 16:1 “Don’t call it ‘just a list.’” That was the advice of preaching professor Fred Craddock as he spoke about Romans 16. This collection of Paul’s friends, with names that are unfamiliar to many of us today, is not merely a list. Every person here has a story revealing a miracle of God’s grace. Take Phoebe, for example. Paul calls her a sister, and he commend

Good morning. How many times have we wished we had a word about someone far away. I can remember when Trevor was in the Navy and technology had advanced to the point where rarely we could do facetime together and catch up. The connection was always poor and usually the call ended by failing and not getting to say goodbye. Now I get a daily audio or video from the grandkids in New York. Today's devotional shows just how far technology has come. Words travel much faster

Good Thursday morning! I hope you are all having a great week! It's a rainy and cool October morning. Remember a couple of weeks ago when we were lamenting the hot weather? Here is today's devotional from "Connect the Testaments." October 5: Words and Actions Ezekiel 12:1–13:23; Revelation 3:14–4:11; Job 33:19–28 Leading by example is a simple principle to understand, but it’s a very difficult one to live. The prophets were often called to lead by example, though doing so usu

Good Wednesday morning! It is rainy and much cooler today, Fall is definitely here. As Wednesday is a day when people make weekend plans, who have you decided to invite to church this week? Here is today's devotional from "Connect the Testaments." October 4: Defibrillators for Sardis Ezekiel 9:1–11:25; Revelation 3:1–13; Job 33:8–18 We cover up the dead places in ourselves with all sorts of regalia. We fill the emptiness with fine clothing, once-in-a-lifetime experiences, or