Unlocked Archives
October 6, 2024
READ: MATTHEW 7:1-5; JAMES 2:10; 1 JOHN 1:7-9 Are you ever tempted to believe that your sins are bigger or smaller than somebody else’s? It’s an easy lie to fall into. But in God’s sight, there are no big or small sins. It’s all just plain sin. It might be helpful to think of sin [...]
October 5, 2024
READ: PSALMS 32:8; 91:15; 119:105; PHILIPPIANS 4:6-7 Imagine for a moment you’re in a car, driving. On and on you go, but soon you realize you’re absolutely, hopelessly lost. The narrow, dead-straight country road stretches out before you with no chance to turn to the left or the right. Should you turn around and go [...]
October 4, 2024
READ: MATTHEW 11:28-30; 1 PETER 5:6-7 Has a Bible verse ever hit you like a freight train—in a good way? I had that experience a couple months ago. I was going through a very stressful time in life with a number of large, sometimes painful decisions in front of me. I was weighed down, desperately [...]
October 3, 2024
READ: PSALMS 34:5; 89:14, 30-34; ROMANS 8:1 When you were younger, did you ever get hurt while doing something you knew you weren’t supposed to do? Like, maybe as a toddler your parent told you not to touch the hot stove, but you did anyway and got burned. Or maybe when you were a bit [...]
October 2, 2024
READ: PSALM 23; ISAIAH 53; MATTHEW 18:12-13 Remember when you were a little kid and would imagine what it would be like to be an animal? I do. I would wonder, What if I was a bird and I could fly? Or what if I was a cheetah and could run 75 miles per hour? [...]
October 1, 2024
READ: 1 SAMUEL 30:1-31; 1 CORINTHIANS 12:12-27 God has given each of us a unique role to play in His kingdom. As Christians, we all have different spiritual gifts and different roles, and no one person is greater than any other. We’re all called to love one another and participate in the kingdom of God [...]
September 30, 2024
READ: PSALMS 28:7; 33:1-3; 40:3; COLOSSIANS 3:16 While I was in high school, I wrote the first version of today’s poem as a song for my personal worship time. Although I can’t read or write music, I can strum a few chords on the guitar and still enjoy singing this song in my devotional time [...]
September 29, 2024
READ: JOHN 15:1-17; GALATIANS 5:22-23 When I was growing up, my family always had a garden. I would help plant the tiny seeds, water them, and tear out the weeds that grew around them. I became so used to watching the little plants pop out of the ground year after year, and then grow until [...]
September 27, 2024
READ: PHILIPPIANS 4:6-7; 2 THESSALONIANS 3:16 Life can be hard. I’m not going to sugarcoat it. Life can be very hard. We may find it pretty easy to love and worship God when things are going well and life is good. But what about when a loved one passes away? What about when you’re so [...]
September 26, 2024
READ: PSALM 73; EPHESIANS 2 "I know God is good, but why do they always seem to get the blessings and not me?” I asked as I sat with my Chinese takeout and tried valiantly not to dissolve into a teary mess. I was the one actually trying to do things God’s way and please [...]