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
Over-the-Top Confession
Leviticus 6:2-5
“If anyone sins and commits a breach of faith against the LORD by deceiving his neighbor in a matter of deposit or security, or through robbery … if he has sinned and has realized his guilt and will restore what he took by robbery or what he got by oppression … he shall restore it in full and shall add a fifth to it, and give it to him to whom it belongs on the day he realizes his guilt.”Immediately upon reading Leviticus 6:2-5 my mind jumped forward to that wonderful event in Luke 24 where the tax-collector, Zacchaeus, repents of his usury and says to Christ, “I’ll give half my money to the poor, and if I’ve defrauded anyone, I’ll restore it fourfold!” My mind also goes to Saul of Tarsus, that Pharisee of Pharisees, the choice pupil of Gamaliel, who defrauded followers of Christ out of mistaken zeal until Christ transformed him on the road to Damascus. What a difference a moment with God makes! Because after that, Paul spent the rest of his life starting churches and writing letters of encouragement and suffering beatings, chains, and shipwrecks to spread the gospel of Christ abroad. It’s impossible to quantify what men like Zacchaeus and Paul gave back to God as a result of their repentance, but I know this for certain: their offerings were above and beyond the additional fifth prescribed here in Leviticus 6.
Penitence of heart is the undertone of God’s message here, isn’t it? The principle of Leviticus 6:2-5 is the transformation in the values of the confessor, not the cost of the payback. The person who is only sorry for getting caught will begrudgingly come forward with his chunk of change, huffing and puffing as he counts out the shekels. But the true confessor, the Zacchaeus and Paul sort, runs to Christ with the contraband before being asked, not casting it out in Judas-like fashion, but giving it back with the joy of a burden lifted. True confession doesn’t pay back its debt and leave a little tip either. It brings everything to the table, giving what it could never keep to gain what it could never lose.
It’s the picture of Judah throwing himself at Joseph’s feet and Zacchaeus enriching the poor and Paul writing letters of encouragement from a prison cell. I wonder: what will you add to the picture today?
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Top-Top Shelf
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Pleading the Fifth
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From Immanuel’s Veins
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Sabbath Psalm (from William Cowper’s hymn, ‘There is a Fountain Filled with Blood’)
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Grace is More
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A Little Clarity
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Buried in the Sinews
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Cometh the Tide
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Better than BBQ
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Sabbath Psalm (A revision of A. Cleveland Coxe’s hymn, ‘O Where are Kings and Empires Now?”)
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Picture Perfect
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Pressing Onward
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Unwritten Prayers
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Blood on Our Hands
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Goodness: the Greatest Blessing
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Sabbath Psalm (Revision of Frederick Brewster’s hymn, ‘Lord God, Our Thanks to Thee We Raise’)
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Shimmering in the Fire
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On Holy Ground We Tread
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You, Me, and Other Gemstones
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Self-Sacrifice
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Faith, Worked Out
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Sabbath Psalm (Revision of Mary Ann Lathbury’s hymn, ‘Break Thou the Bread of Life’)
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Love—in Excess
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A Hand-Me-Down Art
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Gendered Language
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The Afterglow
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Moses and the Red Letters
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Sabbath Psalm (Revision of John Peterson’s hymn, ‘Holy Spirit, Now Outpoured’)
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Crime and Forgiveness
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Unbreakable
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On the Face of It
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The Distinguishing Mark
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A Plot Twist
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Sabbath Psalm (Revision of Frank Bottome’s hymn, ‘The Comforter Has Come’)
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Come Away with Me
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A Critical Departure
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Down with the Ship
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The Good Fight
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A Horror Story
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Sabbath Psalm 47 (Revised from John Peterson’ hymn ‘Jesus is Coming Again’)
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Come All Who Thirst!
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A Reassuring Truth
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What's On the Menu Today?
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Choices and Consequence
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What Have We Become?
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Sabbath Psalm 46 (Revision of John Bakewell’s hymn ‘Hail, Thou Once-Despised Jesus!’)
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When Adjectives Fail
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Epics and Epitaphs
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A Team Effort
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What a Guy!
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A Holy Touch
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Sabbath Psalm 45 (Revision of Thomas Kelly’s hymn ‘Hark! Ten Thousand Harps and Voices’)
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Name Your Price
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Amazing Grace, How Sweet the Smell
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A Most Fulfilling Prophecy
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Marked by the Blood
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Dressing the Part
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Sabbath Psalm 44 (Revision of John Peterson’s hymn ‘Open Wide, Ye Doors’)
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Facts and Feelings
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Priesthood: A Balancing Act
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Beautiful Glory—Glorious Beauty
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Lamplighters
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A Mobile Home
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Sabbath Psalm 43 (Revision of Giovanni P. Da Palestrina’s hymn ‘The Strife is Over’)
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An Open Door
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Gold Rush
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Practicing God’s Presence
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An Ark Like No Other
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A Heavenly Contribution
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Sabbath Psalm 42
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A Crackling Fire
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Picnic Time!
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There is a Fountain
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A Book Signing
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A Recurring Theme
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Sabbath Psalm 41
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Are You Listening?
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Almighty Love
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Got Justice?
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A Song to Share
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Fable of Farce?
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Sabbath Psalm 40
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A Revolutionary Idea
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The Avenger
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A Silver Lining
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Liberty by Submission, pt. 2
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Liberty by Submission, pt. 1
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Sabbath Psalm 39
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A Bit More Context
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Laws on Slavery (An Introduction)
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The Art of Worship
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A Deep Light
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A Word on Honor
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Blessed Rest
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What’s in a Name?
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The Law in Essence
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Further In
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Lead Me to Calvary
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The Gospel Call