Tag: devotion

  • When Guilt Weighs You Down

    When Guilt Weighs You Down

    When I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. For day and night your hand was heavy on me; my strength was sapped as in the heat of summer. Then I acknowledged my sin to you and did not cover up my iniquity. I said, “I will confess my transgressions…

  • What Does It Mean to be a Christian?

    What Does It Mean to be a Christian?

    “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it. What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what…

  • Why Does God Allow Suffering?

    Why Does God Allow Suffering?

    Why does God allow suffering? If you’ve ever wrestled with this question, you’re not alone. I’m right there with you. Many Christians struggle to reconcile their faith with the harsh realities of pain and hardship—especially when other Christians and non-Christians don’t seem to be experiencing the same sort of difficulties. And that changes the question…

  • How Do I Trust God?

    How Do I Trust God?

    Can you ever fully trust someone with absolute, total certainty—knowing that he or she will always act in your best interest? As sinful human beings, trust is hard to give, and we always hold something back—whether because we don’t fully trust someone else or because we’ve been hurt in the past and now seek to…

  • Bartholomew, the Disciple We’d Like to Imitate

    Bartholomew, the Disciple We’d Like to Imitate

    Note: This day (Monday, August 24, 2026) marks the minor festival of the church year for Saint Bartholomew, Apostle. The following is a devotion from Richard E. Lauersdorf’s With Our Eyes on Jesus. Bartholomew is also named Nathanael in the gospel of John. Philip found Nathanael and told him, “We have found the one Moses wrote…

  • When Fear Makes You Look Away

    When Fear Makes You Look Away

    Shortly before dawn Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake. When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. “It’s a ghost,” they said, and cried out in fear. But Jesus immediately said to them: “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.” “Lord, if it’s you,” Peter replied, “tell…

  • How Many Times Do I Need to Hear About God’s Love?

    How Many Times Do I Need to Hear About God’s Love?

    “Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good. His love endures forever” (Psalm 136:1). Did you know that the average person needs to hear a message at least seven times before it completely sinks in, registers emotionally, and prompts action? In Psalm 136, the psalmist isn’t content to share his message about the endlessly…

  • Earnestly Seeking God

    Earnestly Seeking God

    “You, God, are my God, earnestly I seek you; I thirst for you, my whole being longs for you, in a dry and parched land where there is no water. I have seen you in the sanctuary and beheld your power and your glory. Because your love is better than life, my lips will glorify…