SHIELD OF LOVE
But let all who take refuge in You be glad; let them ever sing for joy. Spread Your protection over them, that those who love Your name may rejoice in You. Surely, Lord, You bless the righteous; You surround them with Your favor as with a shield. Psalm 5:11-12, NIV It is difficult to love […]
AM I TOO BUSY FOR GOD?
Come near to God and He will come near to you. James 4:8, NIV Recently, my wife, oldest daughter, and youngest grandson joined me on a six-hour drive to an education conference. Because it was such a long drive, we had preplanned several stops along the way. At one point during our journey, five-year-old Jeyce dropped […]
LOVE BEARS ALL THINGS
Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. 1 Corinthians 13:7, ESV Being suspicious takes a lot of energy! I have wasted so much time and energy being suspicious of students’ motives. What did he really mean? Is it true that she didn’t understand? Is he trying to pull the wool […]
EQUIPPED FOR SPIRITUAL BATTLES
Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this […]
A NEW THING
See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland. Isaiah 43:19, NIV Nothing happens by accident, and nothing happens without a process. You and I both know that there are components of our jobs as […]
DAD FIXED IT
This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. 1 John 5:14, NIV In a devotion published in February of 2024, I shared a story about a member of my mother’s church body who needed a car and had no means to afford one. […]
TRANSPARENT FAITH
They triumphed over him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death. Revelation 12:11, NIV Confession: Sometimes I’m afraid to open up and share the depth of what is happening in my life with others. I know […]
MORE THAN MANY SPARROWS
“What I tell you in the dark, speak in the daylight; what is whispered in your ear, proclaim from the roofs. Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell. Are not two sparrows […]
PLANS
Commit your actions to the Lord, and your plans will succeed. Proverbs 16:3, NLV All teachers live according to plans—long-term plans, monthly plans, unit plans, and daily plans. We plan our work and work our plan. Some of us stick closer to those plans than others, but we all, nonetheless, have to make them. And […]
SEEN
Hagar used another name to refer to the Lord, who had spoken to her. She said, “You are the God who sees me.” Genesis 16:13, NLT I had the craziest thing happen to me on my last visit to Animal Kingdom. As I was walking in to attend the Lion King show, a Disney worker […]