Devotional Passages for Week of April 15-22

Monday: Joshua 11:1-12:24, Luke 17:11-37, Psalm 84:1-12, Proverbs 13:5-6

Tuesday: Joshua 13:1-14:15, Luke 18:1-17, Psalm 85:1-13, Proverbs 13:7-8

Wednesday: Joshua 15:1-63, Luke 18:18-43, Psalm 86:1-17, Proverbs 13:9-10

Devotional Passages for Week of April 8-15

Monday: Deuteronomy 32:28-52, Luke 12:35-59, Psalm 78:56-64, Proverbs 12:24
Tuesday: Deuteronomy 33:1-29, Luke 13:1-21, Psalm 78:65-72, Proverbs 12:25
Wednesday: Deuteronomy 34:1-Joshua 2:24, Luke 13:22-14:6, Psalm 79:1-13, Proverbs 12:26

Do Not Be Anxious About Anything: Defeating Worry

Trip mornings at camp are busy and often hectic.  It takes a good bit of work and organization to get 280 campers and 56 counselors out into the wilderness.  Often I wake up on those mornings with not only a list of things to get done, but in the process of getting those things checked off, lots of other tasks that surface.  On one particular morning I woke up overwhelmed by the morning's tasks.  I packed my stuff for the senior trip, drove the van into camp for the cavers, filled it with gas, emptied out the paddles and pfd's.  Having emptied the pfd's on the floor of the trips garage I stood there staring at them thinking, I ought to hang these up now, but if I do I won't get any time with God before the morning staff meeting.  Then it occurred to me what people might think of me for leaving pfd's on the floor.  "How come he's too lazy to put away the pfd's correctly when he's always requiring of us to get things put away correctly?"  "How could he be so irresponsible?"  I was caught in a dangerous pattern of thinking.

So have you ever been in a situation much like this one?  Has your concern for what people think and your worry about how they might perceive your actions ever dictated the decisions you made?

Devotional Passages for Week of April 1 - 8

Monday: Deuteronomy 18:1-20:20, Luke 9:28-50, Psalm 73:1-28, Proverbs 12:10

Tuesday: Deuteronomy 21:1-22:30, Luke 9:51-10:12, Psalm 74:1-23, Proverbs 12:11

Wednesday: Deuteronomy 23:1-25:19, Luke 10:13-37, Psalm 75:1-10, Proverbs 12:12-14

Devotional Passages for Week of March 25-April 1

Monday:  Deuteronomy 4:1-49, Luke 6:39-7:10, Psalm 68:1-18, Proverbs 11:28
Tuesday:  Deuteronomy 5:1-6:25, Luke 7:11-35, Psalm 68:19-35, Proverbs 11:29-31
Wednesday:  Deuteronomy 7:1-8:20, Luke 7:36-8:3, Psalm 69:1-18, Proverbs 12:1

Watching March Madness to the Glory of God

Can a person enjoy March Madness to the glory of God?  The Apostle Paul's answer would be "Yes".  According to I Corinthians 10:31 - "So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God."  However, on the heels of that statement Paul would likely be very quick to give us the following advice on how to watch the tournament in a way that honors God.  

Paul might begin by warning us against idolatry.  Idolatry is desiring anything above Jesus Christ.  For many of us this immediately ought to result in confession of our misplaced desires and an asking of God for His help to order our desires rightly in our hearts that we might watch in a way that truly honors Jesus.  I believe Paul might then go on to point out the following truths.

9 Biblical Promises We Can Cling To

The following 9 promises were posted at the Desiring God Blog by Jonathan Parnell under the title:

9 Reasons You Can Face Anything 

The following is a portion of that post:

"By the blood of his Son, God has promised infallibly:

1. I will meet all your needs according to my riches in glory in Christ Jesus (Philippians 4:19).
2. My power will be made perfect in weakness (2 Corinthians 12:9).
3. I will strengthen you and help you and hold you up with my righteous right hand (Isaiah 41:10).
4. I will never leave you nor forsake you (Hebrews 13:5).
5. I will not let any testing befall you for which I do not give you grace to bear (1 Corinthians 10:13).
6. I will take the sting away from your death with the blood of my son (1 Corinthians 15:55f).
7. I will raise you from the dead imperishable (1 Corinthians 15:52).
8. I will transform your lowly body to be like my glorious body, by the power that enables me even to subject all things to myself (Philippians 3:21).
9. I will do this without fail because I am absolutely sovereign over everything and therefore, I can do all things, and no purpose of mine can be thwarted (Job 42:2).

This list is adapted from the sermon, When Jesus Meets Disability."

My Soul is in the Midst of Lions

"My soul is in the midst of lions; I lie down amid fiery beasts - the children of man, whose teeth are spears and arrows, whose tongues are sharp swords."  Psalm 57:4

Perhaps like me the image above brings back hard memories of being mocked and ridiculed.  It could be that on this very day upon returning from school you find your soul hurting and discouraged by the sword-like tongues of your peers.  Their words have cut deep.  Now you are questioning- "how do I get through this?"  "How do I get up tomorrow and find the strength to return to that environment?"  "Where do I find healing for my emotionally scarred soul?"

I hope it is a great comfort for you, as it is for me, that we are not the first ones to experience these hardships.  The Psalmist who penned the words above, knew what it was to be mercilessly made fun of and mocked too.  He knew what it was like to be picked on.  He knew how it felt to be afraid of what others might say.  Thank God for a writer in the Bible who writes to those wounded by words, threats, jokes, and mockery.  So what might we learn from Psalm 57, how might this writer answer the italicized questions above?

Devotional Passages for Week of March 18-25

Monday: Numbers 26:52-28:15, Luke 3:1-22, Psalm 61:1-8, Proverbs 11:16-17
Tuesday: Numbers 28:16-29:40, Luke 3:23-38, Psalm 62:1-12, Proverbs 11:18-19
Wednesday: Numbers 30:1-31:54, Luke 4:1-30, Psalm 63:1-11, Proverbs 11:20-21

Devotional Passages for Week of March 11-18

Monday: Numbers 15:17-16:40, Mark 15:1-47, Psalm 54:1-7, Proverbs 11:5-6

Tuesday: Numbers 16:41-18:32, Mark 16:1-20, Psalm 55:1-23, Proverbs 11:7

Wednesday: Numbers 19:1-20:29, Luke 1:1-25, Psalm 56:1-13, Proverbs 11:8

Do You Still Want to Be Like Mike?

Check out this article was originally posted on the Gospel Coalition website by a former SB2W camper, Matt Smethurst.

Do You Still Want to Be Like Mike?

If you've watched ESPN at any point in the last week, you know Michael Jordan just turned 50. With six NBA titles, five MVPs, ten scoring titles, 14 All-Star appearances, and many other feats posterized on my childhood bedroom wall, Jordan's legacy on the basketball court is unmatched. But life off the court, particularly since his final retirement in 2003, hasn't been so pristine.

In anticipation of Jordan's 50th birthday, ESPN senior writer Wright Thompson spent some time with Number 23. The product is an Outside the Lines article titled "Michael Jordan Has Not Left the Building," a fascinating behind-the-scenes glimpse into the mind of the man who revolutionized the world of sports.

Unquenchable Fire

Thompson's piece pulsates with the sense that Jordan isn't happy. "I would give up everything now to go back and play the game of basketball," the Hall of Famer confesses. When asked how he replaces it, Jordan simply states, "You don't. You learn to live with it."

Devotional Passages for Week of February 25 - March 4

Monday: Leviticus 16:29-18:30, Mark 7:24-8:10, Psalm 41:1-13, Proverbs 10:15-16

Tuesday: Leviticus 19:1-20:21, Mark 8:11-38, Psalm 42:1-11, Proverbs 10:17

Wednesday: Leviticus 20:22-22:16, Mark 9:1-29, Psalm 43:1-5, Proverbs 10:18

A Seed Among Thorns

"And others are the ones sown among thorns.  They are those who hear the word, but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches and the desires for other things enter in and choke the word, and it proves unfruitful."  Mark 4:18-19

My wife and I have had the privilege of mentoring young men and women for many years.  It's fun that some of them are now having kids of their own, some are married and members of our church, and we even have one couple in our adult small group that we mentored as 9th graders.  Sadly, there are some who have not pursued their faith into adulthood at all, and some only apathetically.  I continue to pray for every one of them that their lives might not prove unfruitful.

So what happened to them along the way that led them to stray from faithfully following Christ?  Why are their lives seemingly not bearing the fruit that we had so hoped to see?

Devotional Passages for Week of February 18-25

Monday:  Leviticus 6:1-7:27, Mark 3:7-30, Psalm 37:1-11, Proverbs 10:3-4

Tuesday:  Leviticus 7:28-9:6, Mark 3:31-4:25, Psalm 37:12-29, Proverbs 10:5

Wednesday: Leviticus 9:7-10:20, Mark 4:26-5:20, Psalm 37:30-40, Proverbs 10:6-7

LeCrae's One Minute Gospel Rap

Desiring God's website had this wonderful gospel presentation on its blog today. Here's the link: http://www.desiringgod.org/blog/posts/lecrae-raps-the-gospel-in-one-minute

Here is a portion of the post on desiring God:

We recently sat down with Lecrae to talk about his latest album, Gravity, which just won Best Gospel Album at the 55th Annual Grammy Awards. Here he raps the gospel in one minute:

Devotional Passages for Week of February 11-18

Monday: Exodus 32:1-33:23, Matthew 26:69-27:14, Psalm 33:1-11, Proverbs 8:33-36

Tuesday: Exodus 34:1-35:9, Matthew 27:15-31, Psalm 33:12-22, Proverbs 9:1-6

Wednesday: Exodus 35:10-36:38, Matthew 27:32-66, Psalm 34:1-10, Proverbs 9:7-8

Devotional Passages for Week of February 4-11

Monday: Exodus 19:16-21:21, Matthew 23:13-39, Psalm 28:1-9, Proverbs 7:1-5

Tuesday: Exodus 21:22-23:13, Matthew 24:1-28, Psalm 29:1-11, Proverbs 7:6-23

Wednesday: Exodus 23:14-25:40, Matthew 24:29-51, Psalm 30:1-12, Proverbs 7:24-27

Not a Genie in a Bottle!

"And whatever you ask in prayer, you will receive, if you have faith." -Matthew 21:22

        There was a mad rush up the stairs last night as soon as I agreed that our kids could watch the VHS video they had picked up from the library that afternoon.  Being an older VHS tape, there was a lot of static sound as it played.  

"Dad!!! Fix it!!"  

       I wish I could have fixed it, but unfortunately the tape was irreparably damaged.  After a few minutes of listening to the annoying static noise I was ready to call it quits, but the kids had their hearts set on watching this video.  All of a sudden my oldest son says, "I just don't understand, I prayed, but God won't make the noise go away."

Devotional Passages for Week of January 28-February 4

Monday: Exodus 5:22-7:25, Matthew 18:21-19:12, Psalm 23:1-6, Proverbs 5:22-23

Tuesday: Exodus 8:1-9:35, Matthew 19:13-30, Psalm 24:1-10, Proverbs 6:1-5

Wednesday: Exodus 10:1-12:13, Matthew 20:1-28, Psalm 25:1-15, Proverbs 6:6-11

Today’s passage to savor – Are you a Ninja?

“My son, be attentive to my words; incline your ear to my sayings.  Let them not escape from your sight; keep them within your heart.  For they are life to those who find them, and healing to all their flesh.  Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life.” 

Proverbs 4:20-23

Two of our camp directors were sitting in church one morning when one of them caught the other looking up into the rafters, studying them, and lost in his own daydreaming.  (Yes, it happens to us too.)  After the service the one approached the other because he thought he knew exactly what the other had been daydreaming about. 

“Were you daydreaming during part of the service?”

“Yes!”

“Were you imagining you were a ninja and discerning how you would drop from the rafters onto unsuspecting armed men who had entered the church, thereby saving all the congregation from certain doom”.

“Yes, that’s pretty much how it went.”

“I thought so.”

The truth is , many of us have great delusions of grandeur, picturing ourselves as heroes, able to save people from certain doom.  We dream of guarding our friends, our neighbors, our families from imminent attack.  Most of us will never have these dreams become a reality in life, at least in the fantastical way we daydream.  Yet, each of us are called to be the guards we dream of being.  It just looks a little different than our dreams, especially the daydreaming described above.  We are called by God to guard our hearts.