As a child, something always intrigued me. I remember a tall, brick smokestack in our neighborhood. On it were the initials of a college—a college that was several miles away. Now, this old smokestack didn’t get there by itself. Someone built it before the early 1960s. Was the college supposed to be built there originally,…
April 16 On January 23, we looked at the Lord’s Prayer in John 17. Today, we read the Disciples’ Prayer. As I said in January, John 17 is the prayer that Jesus prayed for His disciples and their disciples. Here, in Luke 11, we encounter a disciple who asks Jesus to teach them to pray,…
April 12 The title of this devotional was almost, “Following Jesus Can Cost Your Life.” As I typed it, I freshly realized the point Jesus was making once more: It’s not that following can cost us our lives. It will. It always does. In fact, we talked about this just a few days ago on…
February 22 Matthew 18 begins with Jesus teaching His disciples from the viewpoint of children. He says that we must all become like children to enter the Kingdom of Heaven, meaning we must come to Him on His terms, submitting to His kingship over us and His domain, and trusting Him like a child trusts…
Matthew 17 contains an interesting statement that has been mistranslated and thus misunderstood and misapplied. A man brought his epileptic son to Jesus’ disciples, expecting them to heal him, but they were unable. The disciples were frustrated and asked Jesus why. The boy’s epilepsy was not due to a brain disorder, but rather to his…
February 15 Matthew 13:11–15 refers to Isaiah’s prophecy that the Messiah will speak in parables. So what is a parable? The Greek word behind “parable” means “to throw alongside.” As Jesus went about ministering, He often drew word pictures from what He and His disciples encountered. The parables were designed to reveal secrets of the…
January 22 Once more, Jesus tells His disciples that He will leave soon, but in His absence His Father will send the Holy Spirit. The Spirit will expand on what Jesus has already told them. (John 16:7–15) There were many things Jesus taught His disciples, who often had no clue what He was telling them….
In yesterday’s devotional, we saw the need for believers—as branches—to bear fruit. Most importantly, we discovered that the branches’ responsibility is to stay attached to the Vine and allow His life to flow through them. (John 15:4–5) The branches don’t have to struggle to produce fruit. In fact, the branches bear fruit that the true…
The schedule for our daily Bible readings can be found here. The schedule is based on five days on, then two days off. It will take about five minutes each day to read that day’s scheduled reading. The devotionals will take an additional five minutes to read. Depending on how quickly you read … and…