Praying in Faith

January 23, 2022

Bible Reading Genesis 22 Matthew 21 Acts 21 Devotional Thoughts The story of Abraham and Isaac is an incredible challenge to walk by faith. Would I have had the faith to believe God like Abraham did? God had promised him a son. Through that son (not the one Abraham fathered by his own effort), God […]

Child-like Faith

January 23, 2022

Bible Reading Matthew 6 Matthew 18 Devotional Thoughts The greatest in the Kingdom is the one who humbles himself and becomes like this child. (Matt 18:4) What is a child’s faith like? If a child chooses to stay inside the circle of safety, trusting mom and dad implicitly, going where mom and dad say, doing […]

The Prayer of a Righteous Man

January 23, 2022

Bible Reading Genesis 18 Matthew 17 Acts 17 Devotional Thoughts In Matt 17:20-21 Jesus gives us an incredible picture of what genuine faith can do. If we have faith, even the size of a mustard seed, you could move a mountain. Jesus said in Matt 13:31-32 that the mustard seed is the smallest of all […]

Properly Motivated

January 23, 2022

Bible Reading Matthew 16 Hebrews 12:1-4 1 Cor 15:55-58 Devotional Thoughts How in the world can Jesus say of Peter, “This truth was given to you directly by my Father,” and 3 verses later also say, “These thoughts of yours don’t come from God, but from human nature.” ESV says, “You are not setting your […]

Seeing the Work of God

January 23, 2022

Bible Reading Matthew 15 Psalm 103 Devotional Thoughts In Matt 15:30-31 Matthew reports the very acts that Jesus declared to John’s disciples in Matthew 11:4-6 as proof of who he was. The people recognize the work of God through Jesus, but the religous leaders refuse to believe. In fact in Matt 12:21-32 they attribute his work to […]

Building Relationships by Entering Their World

January 16, 2022

Instruments in the Redeemers Hand Chapter 7 – Building Relationships by Entering Their World Robin and I are reading Instruments in the Redeemers Hand with our daughter and son in-law. It has been a really good book, and we feel like it’s exactly what we need for our ministry among the new church planting missionaries. […]

Ruminate – Declarations of Truth

January 16, 2022

Winning the War In Your Minds – chapter 6Rumination and Renewal Robin and I have been going through the book “Winning the War in Your Minds by Craig Groeschel with our coworkers. It has been a very good, thought provoking study. Each time we meet we each walk away being challenged to be more intentional […]

Heavy Loads Made Light

January 16, 2022

Bible Reading Matthew 11Hebrews 4 Devotional Thoughts: Hebrews 4 describes the rest that is available to believers. On December 14 I talked about this passage and the connection I saw to parenting. The rest of the believer, I believe is related to obedience and staying “inside God’s circle of safety.” Here in Matt 11:27-30 Jesus […]

God’s Family Trait… Persecution

January 16, 2022

Bible Reading Matthew 10 Acts 8 Devotional Thoughts When Jesus said the words in Matthew 10, the Spirit had not yet come, so I have to wonder what the disciples thought about what Jesus said, “The words you will speak will not be yours..” The Spirit did come on people for specific enabling, so I […]

God as the First Parent

January 16, 2022

Bible Reading Genesis 3 Matthew 3 Devotional Thoughts In Genesis 3 we see how God “parents” the first Adam. Here’s a couple observations from Genesis 2-3. He set boundaries / guidelines (do not eat the fruit of the tree) (Gen 2:15-17) He gave specific consequences (You shall die) (Gen 2:17) He punished their disobedience… the […]