Written by Chuck Swindoll, these encouraging devotional thoughts are published seven days per week.
Read Hebrews 4:15-16
Perhaps you're fighting an inner battle with a ghost from the past. The spectre of a previous hurt haunts your mind and steals your peace.
Before you surrender your case as hopeless, consider the liberating evidence of freedom offered in the Bible. Take an honest look at men and women whom God used despite their past regrets.
Read Joshua 1:6–7
Read Galatians 5:22–23
The rare and remarkable virtue of patience is within the and-so-forth section in Galatians chapter 5. You know how we quote that passage...“the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, and-so-forth.” That lazy habit has caused a very important series of virtues to escape our notice. Let’s read it together as a refresher:
The Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. (Galatians 5:22-23)
Read Ephesians 4:3–6
Read 1 Corinthians 15:51–52
The feelings are familiar. Mouth open. Eyes like saucers. Chill up the spine.
“The flash of a mighty surprise” boggles the mind, leaving us somewhere between stunned and dumb with wonder. “Am I dreaming or is a miracle happening?” So it is with surprises. Surprises start parties and end partnerships. They solve murders, enhance birthdays and anniversaries, embellish friendships. Kids at Christmas love ’em. Parents expect ’em. Coaches use ’em. Politicians diffuse ’em.
Read Numbers 30:2
March 11, 1942, was a dark, desperate day at Corregidor. One island after another in the Pacific theatre had been buffeted into submission. The enemy was now marching into the Philippines as confident and methodical as the big band in the Rose Bowl parade. Surrender was inevitable. The brilliant and bold soldier, Douglas MacArthur, had only three words for his comrades as he stepped into the escape boat destined for Australia: “I shall return.”
Read Amos 8:11–12
The words hangs like an omen in our heads.
We picture brutal, grotesque images. Cows’ hips protrude. Babies’ eyes are hollow. Bloated stomachs growl. Skin stretches tight across faces. The skull outline emerges. Joints swell. Grim, despairing stares replace smiles. Hope is gone...life is reduced to a harsh existence. Those who have seen it cannot forget it. Those who haven’t cannot imagine it. It’s famine.
Read James 4:14–16
He was brilliant. Clearly a child prodigy, the pride of Salzburg, a performer par excellence. One of the most brilliant and gifted composers of all time left earth at the young age of thirty-five. The man lived most of his life in abject poverty. He died in complete obscurity!
His official name was Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Amadeus Theophilus Mozart. With a handle like that, he had to be famous.
We call him Mozart.
Read James 3:2
Nothing damages our dignity like stumbling!
I have seen people dressed to the hilt stumble and fall flat on their faces as they were walking to church. I’ve done it myself, hoping no one was watching. I’ve watched a sure and winning touchdown by a running back foiled by a stumble.
Read 2 Corinthians 11:13–15
My friend ate dog food one evening. He was at an elegant student reception in a physician’s home. The dog food was served on delicate crackers with a wedge of imported cheese, bacon chips, an olive, and a sliver of pimento on top. It was hors d’oeuvres a la Alpo.
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