Daily Devotionals

Forward Day By Day - January 18, 2022
Have you ever been denied a seat at the table? Maybe you took the hint that you were not welcome and stayed away—or maybe you took a seat at the table anyway. Not everyone wants us at the table, especially if our thoughts and opinions are unwelcome [...]
Forward Day By Day - January 17, 2022
God not only liberates and loves people but also animals. They, too, are a part of our greater family. Scripture records their creation—the birds and animals and even the creeping things. And not only are they named in scripture, but also God is cl [...]
Forward Day By Day - January 16, 2022
In the writing class that I teach, I often hear students say they are not creative or talented enough to write something meaningful. This provides a perfect opportunity to talk about gifts and how we are each blessed with specific ones. At the same t [...]
Forward Day By Day - January 15, 2022
As I traverse my forties, I am coming to see that what I take into my body no longer sheds away as rapidly as it once did. Foods I used to love are not as exciting. The way I take care of my body has changed. These days, I am very aware of what I put [...]

Love’s Greatest Gift - January 18, 2022
My son Geoff was leaving a store when he saw an abandoned walking frame (a mobility aid) on the ground. I hope there isn’t a person back there who needs help, he thought. He glanced behind the building and found a homeless man unconscious on the pa [...]
Brave Your Storm - January 17, 2022
A fierce thunderstorm lashed Memphis, Tennessee, on the evening of April 3, 1968. Weary and feeling ill, the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. decided not to give his planned speech for striking sanitation workers at a church hall. He was surprised by [...]
Darkness and Light - January 16, 2022
As I sat in the courtroom, I witnessed several examples of the brokenness of our world: a daughter estranged from her mother; a husband and wife who’d lost the love they once had and now shared only bitterness; a husband yearning for reconciliation [...]
Life by Death - January 15, 2022
Carl had contracted cancer and needed a double lung transplant. He asked God for new lungs, but felt odd doing so. He confessed it’s a strange thing to pray, because “someone has to die so I might live.” Carl’s dilemma highlights a basic t [...]

“It Is the Lord!”
Thomas answered and said to Him, "My Lord and my God!" —John 20:28 “Jesus said to her, ‘Give Me a drink’ ” (John 4:7). How many of us are expecting Jesus Christ to quench our thirst when we should be satisfying Him! We should be p [...]
The Call of the Natural Life
When it pleased God…to reveal His Son in me… —Galatians 1:15-16 The call of God is not a call to serve Him in any particular way. My contact with the nature of God will shape my understanding of His call and will help me realize what I truly de [...]
The Voice of the Nature of God
I heard the voice of the Lord, saying: "Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?" —Isaiah 6:8 When we talk about the call of God, we often forget the most important thing, namely, the nature of Him who calls. There are many things calli [...]
Do You Walk In White?
We were buried with Him…that just as Christ was raised from the dead…even so we also should walk in newness of life. —Romans 6:4 No one experiences complete sanctification without going through a “white funeral” — the burial of the old li [...]