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Walk in Wisdom
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These daily devotionals are written to help you remain rooted and grounded in God's Word each day. We have one devotional for each weekday, and one for the weekend.
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Latest Devotional
Divine Devotion
Deuteronomy 3:3 & 6
“So the LORD our God gave into our hand Og also, the king of Bashan, and all his people, and we struck him down until he had no survivor left. … And we devoted them to destruction … men, women, and children.”Ask the average person on the street with a moderate understanding of the Bible what Noah’s flood and the destruction of Sodom and the Passover in Egypt and the scorched-earth conquest of Canaan all have in common, and the answer you’ll get, whether spewed out in profanities or shrugged off ambivalently, is genocide. That’s the categorical term that serves as a sort of murky film over Scriptures like these that makes it difficult for even the most optimistic saint among us to see the radiant light of God’s love shining through it. Personally, as a father of two precious children, a father of one precious child our LORD called home in the womb, and the father of another on the way, my heart aches when I read accounts of little children being killed. But that’s partly because my sense of self-righteousness, often parading as compassion, is so far below God’s righteous character. My easily offendable perceptions need reminding that thegospel is the story of God lowering Himself to die in my stead, not the story of God lowering Himself to meet my standards.
Justice always lies at the heart of these stomach-churning instances in Scripture and that’s of fundamental importance. It never matters whether few or many sinners die, or whether they die by the sword or by plague, or whether they’re young or old, male or female, slave or free, because all of us are born into sin, meaning that all of us die by divine judgment in one form or another. God does not owe any man, woman, or child a single breath on His earth. Life isn’t a human right—it’s a gift; and it’s God’s to give or take away.
So, the next time an atheist says, “How can a loving God kill all those innocent people,” first remind him that “the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” Then take him to John’s Gospel and show him that our LORD is more devoted to our redemption than He is to our destruction!
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Latest Devotional
Divine Devotion
Deuteronomy 3:3 & 6
“So the LORD our God gave into our hand Og also, the king of Bashan, and all his people, and we struck him down until he had no survivor left. … And we devoted them to destruction … men, women, and children.”Ask the average person on the street with a moderate understanding of the Bible what Noah’s flood and the destruction of Sodom and the Passover in Egypt and the scorched-earth conquest of Canaan all have in common, and the answer you’ll get, whether spewed out in profanities or shrugged off ambivalently, is genocide. That’s the categorical term that serves as a sort of murky film over Scriptures like these that makes it difficult for even the most optimistic saint among us to see the radiant light of God’s love shining through it. Personally, as a father of two precious children, a father of one precious child our LORD called home in the womb, and the father of another on the way, my heart aches when I read accounts of little children being killed. But that’s partly because my sense of self-righteousness, often parading as compassion, is so far below God’s righteous character. My easily offendable perceptions need reminding that thegospel is the story of God lowering Himself to die in my stead, not the story of God lowering Himself to meet my standards.
Justice always lies at the heart of these stomach-churning instances in Scripture and that’s of fundamental importance. It never matters whether few or many sinners die, or whether they die by the sword or by plague, or whether they’re young or old, male or female, slave or free, because all of us are born into sin, meaning that all of us die by divine judgment in one form or another. God does not owe any man, woman, or child a single breath on His earth. Life isn’t a human right—it’s a gift; and it’s God’s to give or take away.
So, the next time an atheist says, “How can a loving God kill all those innocent people,” first remind him that “the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” Then take him to John’s Gospel and show him that our LORD is more devoted to our redemption than He is to our destruction!
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King of the Grasshoppers
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Holy Dread
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Blaze of Glory
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Sabbath Psalm (Adapted from Mary Kidder’s hymn ‘Is My Name Written There?’)
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Outliers
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The Father’s Arms
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The Prepositions of Providence
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The Grace of Problem Solving
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Make Me a Sanctuary
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Sabbath Psalm (From Fanny Crosby’s hymn ‘Blessed Assurance’)
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Spiritual Scars
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Better Judgment
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A Roll Call
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Kingdom Rising
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A Tale of Two Pilgrims
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Sabbath Psalm (Revised from Charles Wesley’s hymn ‘Depth of Mercy’)
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A Leprous Colony
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Word Spreads
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Dry Seasons Pt. 2
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Dry Seasons
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For the Record
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Sabbath Psalm (From Priscilla Owens’ hymn ‘Jesus Saves!’’)
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Monumental Letters
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A Second Impression
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Fighting Words
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Either-Or
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Striking Justice
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Sabbath Psalm (From Lidie H. Edmund’s hymn ‘My Faith Has Found a Resting Place’)
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The Fall of Balaam
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Justice—A Double-Edged Sword
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Spoken For
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A Divine Intervention
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Promises Performed
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Out of the Ordinary
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Dying Request
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Hand in Hand
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When God Speaks for You
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A New Genesis
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Sabbath Psalm (Revised from John Peterson’ hymn ‘A Flag to Follow’)
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In Broad Daylight
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No Place Like Home
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Balaam’s Final Oracle
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Faith—An Oasis
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Balaam’s Second Oracle
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Sabbath Psalm (Revision of Henry F. Lyte’s hymn ‘Jesus, I My Cross Have Taken’)
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Balaam’s First Oracle
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A Language Barrier pt. 2
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A Language Barrier pt. 1
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No Solicitors!
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Out of the Shadows
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Sabbath Psalm (Revised from Palmer Hartsough’s hymn ‘I Am Resolved’)
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The Way of Kings
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Lost Books
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The Truth Bites
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The Hand-Off
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Rebels All
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Sabbath Psalm (Revision of Mary D. James’ hymn ‘All for Jesus’)
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Come to the Waters
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Eulogies for the Living
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Sin is Oh So Draining
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In Christ Alone
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Guardians of the Gift
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Sabbath Psalm (From E. W. Blandy’s hymn, ‘Take the World but Give Me Jesus’)
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A Sappy Symbol
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Rhetorical Righteousness
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A Powerful Posture
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Making Memories
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Tribes and Tongues, pt. 2
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Sabbath Psalm (Adapted from Philip P. Bliss’s hymn, ‘Let the Lower Lights be Burning’)
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Tribes and Tongues, pt. 1
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Stop the Rot!
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Jesus Love the Little Children
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Beating Hearts
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One-Sided
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Sabbath Psalm (Adapted from Joseph Scriven’s hymn, ‘What a Friend We Have in Jesus’)
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The Beginning of Wisdom
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The Grasshopper Principle
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Do You See What I See?
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Time Out
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A Reconciling Rebuke
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Sabbath Psalm (From Fanny Crosby’s beloved hymn, ‘Near the Cross’)
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Unrighteous Rhetoric
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A Story Shared
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Moses’ Complaint pt. 2
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Moses’ Complaint pt. 1
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Famished
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Sabbath Psalm (Adapted from George Matheson’s hymn ‘O Love That Wilt Not Let Me Go’)
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Burning
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High Notes and Low Notes
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Silver Chords
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The Waiting Room
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The One and the Many
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Sabbath Psalm (A revision of John W. Peterson’s hymn ‘A Student’s Prayer’)
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Transitions
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The Gold Standard
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Between the Angels
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An Acceptable Approach
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Waxing Lyrical
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Sabbath Psalm (Revision of John W. Peterson’s hymn, ‘Just One Step at a Time’)