Written by Chuck Swindoll, these encouraging devotional thoughts are published seven days per week.
We can make an idol out of anything or anyone in life. A church building can become an idol to us, when all the while it is simply a place to meet and worship our Lord—nothing more. Your child can become your idol...in subtle ways you can so adore that little one that your whole life revolves around the child.
It happens today. You can make an idol out of anything or anyone in life. Often it’s the good things that slither up unnoticed, and soon you discover that they have first place in your heart.
That’s possible, for a mist in the pulpit will invariably cause a fog in the pew. Far too many preachers are specializing in “longhorn” sermons—a point here and a point there with a lot of bull in between.
Both adversity and prosperity confront our equilibrium, but prosperity is perhaps the more challenging test. Today we look at another biblical person who rose to the top and kept his balance.
Two extreme tests exist that disturb our balance in life. Each has its own set of problems. On one side is adversity.
In the now-or-later battle for priorities, it’s clear where the secret lies. Let’s take care of the biggies now—today. It’s amazing how the incidentals will fade away when we focus fully on the essentials. And that’s impossible unless we put the important ahead of the urgent.
Maybe you’re thinking, “A name isn’t that important...what I’m interested in is his soul.” Listen, as I mentioned yesterday, one of the keys that unlocks a person’s soul is the realization that you are interested enough to call him or her by name!
Remembering is a skill. Sure, there are those who have been blessed with a good memory. But they are exceptions. For most of us, remembering is a skill, like speaking in public, singing, reading, thinking, or swimming. We improve at a skill by hard work—direct effort applied with a good deal of concentration, mixed with proper know-how.
It occurred to me (thanks to an insightful message I once heard from my friend Ray Stedman) that when people receive what they deserve, they are robbed of the joy of gratitude.
Is the big courtroom win worth it? Jesus said, “For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul?” (Matthew 16:26).
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