“Now it came to pass when the king was dwelling in his house, and the Lord had given him rest from all his enemies all around, that the king said to Nathan the prophet, ‘See now, I dwell in a house of cedar, but the ark of God dwells inside tent curtains.’ Then Nathan said to the king, ‘Go, do all that is in your heart, for the Lord is with you.’” (2 Samuel 7:1-3) I love turning to Scripture in times of doubt and disappointment. My faith […]

“He will again have compassion on us, and will subdue our iniquities. You will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea.” (Micah 7:19) Several years ago, my home computer was really been acting kind of crazy. It would reboot itself when I checked my e-mail, and at other times, it would just inexplicably crash or shut down. I asked a friend about it and he told me that I had so many corrupt files on my hard drive that the operating system was getting confused. […]

“And he said to him, ‘Son, you are always with me, and all that I have is yours. It was right that we should make merry and be glad, for your brother was dead and is alive again, and was lost and is found’.” (Luke 15:31-32) I have to give credit to a former pastor of mine for this devotion. He preached a sermon several years ago on the prodigal son that inspired me to think about the “other son” in the parable. His slant on the meaning […]

“And lest I should be exalted above measure by the abundance of the revelations, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I be exalted above measure.” (2 Corinthians 12:7) You can’t help but wonder what this “thorn in the flesh” was, but we know from Scripture that it kept Paul humble. It also ensured that his prayer life remained active. Theologians have offered a number of possibilities. Many have argued that Paul was talking about a speech impediment. […]