Ron McClung |
October 29, 2018 |
Daily Devotionals
It was you who opened up springs and streams. (Ps. 74:15) We crossed A BRIDGE near the headwaters of the Jordan River in northern Israel. The stream flowed rapidly under our feet as our guide encouraged us to imagine David sitting on the bank of the river, writing...
Ron McClung |
October 28, 2018 |
Daily Devotionals
If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he . . . will also give life to your mortal bodies. (Rom. 8:11) A DISCOURAGED WOMAN, FEELING HOPELESS, passed a building and saw a banner with big letters that spelled HOPE. Intrigued, she turned...
Ron McClung |
October 27, 2018 |
Daily Devotionals
The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. (Rom. 8:16) A COUPLE IN OUR CIRCLE of acquaintances recently adopted a daughter. A sweet girl in elementary school, she had already lived an unbelievably difficult life. Her new home provides her...
Ron McClung |
October 26, 2018 |
Daily Devotionals
Those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. (Rom. 8:14) IF I WERE TO TAKE A TREK through unfamiliar mountains, I would want a guide. Those who are so bold as to tackle Mount Everest depend on a guide to lead them. To live the Christian life, we, too, need...
Ron McClung |
October 25, 2018 |
Daily Devotionals
And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ. (Rom. 8:9) THE HOLY SPIRIT LIVES in every Christian. Paul made it very clear that if we don’t have the Spirit of Christ, we don’t belong to Christ. To have the Spirit is a wonderful...
Ron McClung |
October 24, 2018 |
Daily Devotionals
The mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace. (Rom. 8:6) WE CAN LIVE ONE OF TWO WAYS. We can live for self, or we can live for Christ. The way we think governs the way we live. If our mindset is toward God, we live to please...
Ron McClung |
October 23, 2018 |
Daily Devotionals
Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. (Rom. 8:1) THE TYPICAL COURTROOM SCENE often involves condemnation. The defendant, having been proven guilty, faces the judgment of the court. The judge may indicate that the defendant is...
Ken Schenck |
October 22, 2018 |
Daily Devotionals
Whom have I in heaven but you? And earth has nothing I desire besides you. (Ps. 73:25) EVERY ONCE AND A WHILE, we notice that someone else seems to have it better than we do. Maybe at work we notice that a coworker is treated much better than we were. Maybe a...
Ken Schenck |
October 21, 2018 |
Daily Devotionals
Thanks be to God—through Jesus Christ our Lord! (Rom. 7:25) I WAS DRIVING BACK TO COLLEGE when God brought to mind that story in Genesis 32 where Jacob told an angel that he would not let the angel go until he blesses Jacob. I began to wonder how serious I was about...
Ken Schenck |
October 20, 2018 |
Daily Devotionals
Through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death. (Rom. 8:2) IN MOST GOOD STORIES, the situation gets a lot worse before things finally turn around and the hero comes through for the win. There are tragedies, of course,...
Ken Schenck |
October 19, 2018 |
Daily Devotionals
What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? (Rom. 7:24) SOME OF US DO NOT LIKE to buy new things. Perhaps we have a car that has problem after problem, but we do repair after repair instead of buying a new one. Perhaps there is something...
Ken Schenck |
October 18, 2018 |
Daily Devotionals
I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. (Rom. 7:18) PERHAPS YOU KNOW someone with an illness that affects his or her body but not the mind. The mind knows where it wants to go or what it wants to do, but it simply cannot get the body to do...
Ken Schenck |
October 17, 2018 |
Daily Devotionals
I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. (Rom. 7:15) THE LITTLE WHITE CHURCH STOOD ALONE in the middle of a field, next to a busy highway. One day the strangest thing happened. A semi veered off the highway, crashed...
Ken Schenck |
October 16, 2018 |
Daily Devotionals
We know that the law is spiritual; but I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin. (Rom. 7:14) HAVE YOU EVER FACED AN IMPOSSIBLE TASK? There are a few annoying people who seem to be good at everything, but most of us are good only at a few things. In my family, I am...
Jerome Van Kuiken |
October 15, 2018 |
Daily Devotionals
When I tried to understand all this, it was oppressive to me till I entered the sanctuary of God. (Ps. 73:17) THE GREAT RECESSION KILLED MY JOB. I was working at a small Bible college that operated on a shoestring budget. Then the shoestring broke. Since I was the...
Jerome Van Kuiken |
October 14, 2018 |
Daily Devotionals
If we have been united with him like this in his death, we will certainly also be united with him in his resurrection. (Rom. 6:5) THE SCIENCE-FICTION FILM ARRIVAL is about a linguist who’s trying to communicate with aliens after their arrival on Earth. As she learns...
Jerome Van Kuiken |
October 13, 2018 |
Daily Devotionals
For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Rom. 6:23) BLAISE PASCAL WAS A GENIUS. In the seventeenth century, he invented a forerunner of the computer! He also pioneered the study of probability. And Pascal had a...
Jerome Van Kuiken |
October 12, 2018 |
Daily Devotionals
You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness. (Rom. 6:18) “RENT A SENIOR,” the local high school announced. The senior class was raising travel funds by hiring themselves out for a few hours. The apostle Paul makes a more radical...
Jerome Van Kuiken |
October 11, 2018 |
Daily Devotionals
Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. (Rom. 6:12) IT MAY BE OLD-FASHIONED NOW, but it was once popular music among Christians. The hymn “Take My Life and Let It Be” came from the pen of nineteenth-century British poet...
Jerome Van Kuiken |
October 10, 2018 |
Daily Devotionals
Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. (Rom. 6:8) AVERY IS A VIBRANT YOUNG CHRISTIAN. She sings on a worship team and helps out at an after-school center for at-risk kids. She’s passionate about these ministries because of her own...
Jerome Van Kuiken |
October 9, 2018 |
Daily Devotionals
Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? (Rom. 6:3) ABU-KHALIL WAS AN EGYPTIAN MUSLIM who converted to Christianity. His story is told in the book Into the Den of Infidels by Lynn Copeland. After Abu-Khalil was...
Michael Jordan |
October 8, 2018 |
Daily Devotionals
May the whole earth be filled with his glory. Amen and Amen. (Ps. 72:19) THERE’S A WONDERFUL AMBIGUITY in this psalm. At the beginning, it seems to be about an Israelite king. The Psalm is traditionally attributed to Solomon, and we imagine Solomon wanting to become...
Michael Jordan |
October 7, 2018 |
Daily Devotionals
I have made you a father of many nations. (Rom. 4:17) WHEN WE FACE DIFFICULT FACTS IN our lives—the death of a spouse, disappointment with friends, financial troubles—we may be tempted either to despair or to minimize the problems. Abraham did neither. Instead, he...
Michael Jordan |
October 6, 2018 |
Daily Devotionals
He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification. (Rom. 4:25) SOMETIMES WE ACT AS IF the resurrection were simply the cherry on top of the gospel, a happy but ultimately unnecessary ending to Jesus’ story. After all, we think,...
