Carole Sparks | April 24, 2018 |
Daily Devotionals
What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from your desires that battle within you? (James 4:1) James’ characteristic bluntness appears in full force here in chapter four. Having just described the peace that comes from wisdom (James 3:17–18), he now...
Brian D. Bennett | April 23, 2018 |
Daily Devotionals
Then men will say, “Surely the righteous still are rewarded; surely there is a God who judges the earth.” (Ps. 58:11) IN THE END, THE RIGHTEOUS will be rewarded. Life in a fallen world can feel very discouraging and defeating. If we are unable to see beyond our...
Brian D. Bennett | April 22, 2018 |
Daily Devotionals
Such “wisdom” does not come down from heaven but is earthly, unspiritual, of the devil. (James 3:15) CHRISTIANS HAVE A SOURCE OF WISDOM available to us that is beyond the world and ourselves. Today, the self-help market has become a multi-billion-dollar industry,...
Brian D. Bennett | April 21, 2018 |
Daily Devotionals
Peacemakers who sow in peace raise a harvest of righteousness. (James 3:18) PEACEMAKERS DON’T JUST MAKE PEACE. They multiply it, and that leads to a harvest of right standing with God. Multiplication is far more powerful than addition. For example, if you were given...
Brian D. Bennett | April 20, 2018 |
Daily Devotionals
But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere. (James 3:17) YOUR INPUT DETERMINES YOUR OUTPUT, and nowhere is that more true than with our vehicles. I am not...
Brian D. Bennett | April 19, 2018 |
Daily Devotionals
For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice. (James 3:16) COMPARING OURSELVES TO ANYONE but Christ is a trap. Many of us fall into it regularly. You are likely familiar with the saying, “The grass is always greener on...
Brian D. Bennett | April 18, 2018 |
Daily Devotionals Voices
But if you harbor bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast about it or deny the truth. (James 3:14) WHAT IS INSIDE YOU ultimately comes out. One of the biggest animated blockbusters of all time was the Pixar movie Inside Out. The film creatively...
Brian D. Bennett | April 17, 2018 |
Daily Devotionals
Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show it by his good life, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom. (James 3:13) WE ALL WANT THE GOOD LIFE. Whether we are rich, poor, or somewhere in between, part of our natural human desire is to have a...
Heather Gemmen Wilson | April 16, 2018 |
Daily Devotionals
For you have delivered me from death and my feet from stumbling, that I may walk before God in the light of life. (Ps. 56:13) AN ESSAY I WROTE that I was particularly happy with couldn’t seem to find a home, although I had sent it out to multiple literary journals....
Heather Gemmen Wilson | April 15, 2018 |
Daily Devotionals
He appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers at the same time. (1 Cor. 15:6) REMEMBER THE DRESS THAT WENT VIRAL? It was a snapshot of a White House intern wearing a striped party dress. Some felt certain it was black and blue. Others looked at the same photo...
Heather Gemmen Wilson | April 14, 2018 |
Daily Devotionals
My brothers, as believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ, don’t show favoritism. (James 2:1) HAVE YOU SEEN THAT VIDEO of a boy who found a dead rat in his bottle of soda? You can imagine how disgusting the image was—and how easy it would have been for someone to...
Heather Gemmen Wilson | April 13, 2018 |
Daily Devotionals
Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures . . . he was buried . . . he was raised on the third day according to the scriptures. (1 Cor. 15:3–4) WHEN MY SON WAS FIVE, he did a school project on sharks that went beyond his kindergarten teacher’s expectations....
Heather Gemmen Wilson | April 12, 2018 |
Daily Devotionals
When they finished, James spoke up: “Brothers, listen to me.” (Acts 15:13) LATE LAST FALL, a member of my small group asked for some advice. He wanted to invite a homeless man to Thanksgiving dinner, but he wasn’t sure if it was rude to impose on his family in that...
Heather Gemmen Wilson | April 11, 2018 |
Daily Devotionals
Since you are doing these things, show yourself to the world. (John 7:4) IN MY FRESHMAN COMPOSITION COURSES, I teach students about rhetoric. They study the relationship between author, audience, and topic, and how to use rhetorical appeals. Students learn that the...
Heather Gemmen Wilson | April 10, 2018 |
Daily Devotionals
Isn’t this the carpenter’s son? Isn’t his mother’s name Mary, and aren’t his brothers James, Joseph, Simon and Judas? (Matt. 13:55) MY SON RECENTLY forwarded an email to me that declared him the winner of 78,000 dollars. “I think this is probably a scam,” he wrote,...
Johnathan Kana | April 9, 2018 |
Daily Devotionals
Awake, my soul! Awake, harp and lyre! I will awaken the dawn. (Ps. 57:8) MY THREE-YEAR-OLD SON is definitely a morning person. I’m not. He rises with infectious energy and a brilliant smile, but when he bounds into my bed early on a Saturday morning, his writhing and...
Johnathan Kana | April 8, 2018 |
Daily Devotionals
Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers, this should not be. (James 3:10) I’VE BEEN STUNG by a Texas bull nettle before. That’s why I viciously chop down any that spring up in our backyard. Brushing against the plant’s needle-sharp hairs causes a...
Johnathan Kana | April 7, 2018 |
Daily Devotionals
Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring? (James 3:11) FOLLOWING A RECENT STORM, widespread power outages placed us under a “boil water notice.” The equipment at the wastewater plant was offline, so there was potentially untreated water in the...
Johnathan Kana | April 6, 2018 |
Daily Devotionals
No man can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. (James 3:8) I WAS MESMERIZED by the colorful frogs on display at the zoo during our family’s visit. Most were only half the size of my little finger, yet placards warned they were poisonous...
Johnathan Kana | April 5, 2018 |
Daily Devotionals
The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole person. (James 3:6) WE KNEW THERE WAS TROUBLE when hundreds of bricks emerged from the kiln with copper spots. These discolorations occur when tiny pieces of metal smelt...
Johnathan Kana | April 4, 2018 |
Daily Devotionals
Although they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are steered by a very small rudder wherever the pilot wants to go. (James 3:4) WHENEVER I DIRECT a large musical ensemble, I use a conductor’s baton. Its wooden tip provides a focal point for the...
Johnathan Kana | April 3, 2018 |
Daily Devotionals
Not many of you should presume to be teachers, my brothers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly. (James 3:1) I REMEMBER THE FIRST TIME I punched through a board in Tae Kwon Do class. I was sure I’d bruise my knuckles and embarrass myself,...
Antje Hill | April 2, 2018 |
Daily Devotionals
Be exalted, O God, above the heavens; let your glory be over all the earth. (Ps. 57:5) AS A YOUNG CHILD, I feared that I couldn’t be good enough for God to love me. I was right. I can’t be. How refreshing it was the day I realized God loves me, just because He loves...
Antje Hill | April 1, 2018 |
Daily Devotionals
You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did. (James 2:22) HAVE YOU EVER had someone say you look like your mom or dad? Physical appearances, and even morals and lifestyles, can be passed on from...
