Archive — Devotionals
1 Oct
Finishing Well
One of the many good things about walking or running outdoors is that you can’t quit before you make it all the way home. But, alas … I walk on a treadmill. That pretty much says it all for me. Yes, I have trouble finishing what I start.
24 Sep
Get Real
The other evening I watched the 2001 film, “A Beautiful Mind,” which tells the story of John Nash, a 1994 Nobel Prize winner and brilliant mathematician who struggled to overcome the delusions and reality-warping effects of schizophrenia. I have seen this film before, but I continue to be profoundly impressed by the man’s ability to use more than his sensual perceptions to ascertain reality. By trusting family and friends who loved him to tell him if something was “real” and by choosing not to feed his delusions, Nash managed to keep his feet in the real world and to contribute to it greatly. That’s pretty deep stuff, but what I really mean to ponder here is how much of what we see as reality really is real?
17 Sep
Dare to Compare
Last evening a rodeo evangelist spoke at my church. Yes, you read that right. A “rodeo evangelist.” Before he began, I wondered how I could relate to what he would have to say, but as I listened I was delighted by his passion for sharing the gospel in such a unique way.
10 Sep
Room to Grow
Those who know me will be expecting this week’s devotional to be about change. Or maybe loss. Or maybe even a stirring tribute to my two oldest children who left this week for college. Guess I won’t completely disappoint you, as this is about change and the kids’ moving.
3 Sep
Here Again?
Elijah had been to the mountain top. He had taken on the 450 prophets of Baal in a sacrificial duel and slaughtered them—literally! God had shown His power in a mighty way, and Elijah had been smack dab in the middle of it. He had to have been on the greatest adrenaline rush of his life. Yet, no sooner did he reach this mountain peak than he began to plummet down the other side into the valley.
27 Aug
Still Our Choice
Last Sunday my pastor preached an awesome sermon on the “Posture of Purity” from Psalm 141. People were visibly moved by the challenge, and I heard many solemn comments about his request for us to grade ourselves on six areas: prayer, worship, words, emotions, thoughts, and our relationships with Jesus. It was evident that many of us felt conviction and realized the need for change in our lives. But as the week has gone on, I wonder how many have put their thoughts into actions?
20 Aug
Keeping Up Appearances
We live in a world in which it is getting easier and easier to hide who we really are. We post profile pictures that have been “photoshopped” for perfection and meticulously write status updates to keep our friends informed and make our lives sound interesting and quirky if not downright worthy of national headlines. Our likes and dislikes, our relationships and breakups, our busy schedules and random thoughts—all carefully chosen and listed on our “page” to give the perfect impression of what we want others to see as the real us. And to some extent these virtual personalities nearly are real. At least they reveal who we really would like to be.
13 Aug
Saying Goodbye
Write from where you are, the writing gods say.
Well, this evening finds me sitting in a familiar leather chair sitting next to a familiar large window watching the sun sink down beneath a familiar line of trees. For the past six and a half years, I have named Clemson, South Carolina, home… . But now I must go.
30 Jul
Fill ‘Er Up!
A friend recently thanked me for sharing Psalm 42 with him during a particularly difficult time in his life. He told me that, although he wasn’t sure of the exact theological meaning of the psalm’s seventh verse, he had come to believe that no matter how deep his personal abyss of pain or need that God’s presence could and would entirely fill it. That sounded pretty profound, and it got me thinking about how shallow my grasp of God really is. How many areas of my life have I closed off to His influence and to a deeper filling of His Holy Spirit? How much, or how little, room have I made for God in my life?
16 Jul
Don’t Hang Up Your Harp—Sing!
How can we sing the Lord’s song on foreign soil? Psalm 137:4
When the psalmist wrote these words, he was with the exiled Israelites in a strange and hostile culture. In his grief, he had hung up his harp, sat down, and was weeping along the banks of the “rivers of Babylon.” In painful honesty, he cried out, “How can I sing, Lord?” Do you ever feel the same?
