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Insight for Today

Written by Chuck Swindoll, these encouraging devotional thoughts are published seven days per week.

Articles of this Type

How’s Your Attitude?

Date:
October 14, 2024

Read Philippians 2:3–4

I love the story of a sea captain who, while navigating his ship through a storm, found himself on a collision course with what he thought was a large vessel in the distance. He ordered the approaching vessel to alter its course ten degrees south. The reply came back: “Alter your course ten degrees north.” Incensed, the captain shot back, “Alter your course ten degrees south. This is the Captain! I am a battleship!” The reply came back: “Alter your course ten degrees north. This is ensign third class. I am a lighthouse!”

The Way Up Is Down

Date:
October 13, 2024

Read Matthew 20:21, 25–28

Journey back with me for a moment to one of the many scenes that demonstrated just how ordinary Jesus’ disciples were. What makes this account interesting is that mother of two of the disciples. She’s Mrs. Zebedee, wife of a Galilean fisherman and mother of James and John. Her bold request still makes me smile:

In your Kingdom, please let my two sons sit in places of honor next to you, one on your right and the other on your left. (Matthew 20:21)

A Servant, Not a Celebrity

Date:
October 12, 2024

Read Mark 10:45

Ever wonder if Jesus would have agreed to star in His own reality TV show? Let’s allow Him to answer in His own words:

The Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many. (Mark 10:45)

No mumbo jumbo. Just a straight-from-the-shoulder response. Jesus came to be a servant. Being a celebrity wasn’t in His DNA.

Rising above Disappointment

Date:
October 10, 2024

Read Psalm 42:5–6

What happens that causes you to be disappointed? Someone or something has failed to fulfil your expectations. You had set up in your mind and then anticipated a certain outcome or response, but it never materialized. Your wish fell flat. Your desire became an empty, unfulfilled dream. Such feelings of disappointment are painfully familiar. As I play the record of my memory, I hear several sad songs from different voices:

“I’m not happy in my work. When I got the job I never realized it would be like this.”

Be Joyful

Date:
October 9, 2024

Read Acts 2:43–47

Even though I don't like it, I’m tempted to stand back, shrug, and agree with the wag who wrote:

This is the age

Of the half-read page

And the quick hash

And the mad dash

The bright night

With the nerves tight

The plane hop

With the brief stop

The lamp tan

In a short span

The big shot

In a good spot

And the brain strain

And the heart pain

And the catnaps

Till the spring snaps

And the fun’s done.

Running to Win

Date:
October 8, 2024

Read Hebrews 12:1–2

The Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award was awarded many years ago to the iconic Ritz-Carlton Hotels. When I congratulated the owner of that outstanding organization, he told me that they would need to work even harder to earn the respect that comes with the prestigious honour. He also mentioned that the award declares that quality is “a race with no finish line.”

No Worms in Heaven

Date:
October 7, 2024

Read Colossians 3:1, 3

It happened to me last week. Isaac Watts did it again. One of his best hymns (he wrote over six hundred!) lingered in my head for more than an hour before I formed the words with my mouth. I suddenly listened to what Watts wrote over two centuries ago:

Alas! and did my Savior bleed? / And did my Sovereign die?

Would He devote that sacred head / For such a worm as I?

Hope for the Weary

Date:
October 6, 2024

Read Isaiah 50:4

Many years ago, my brother, Orville, introduced a hymn to me I’d not heard before. Its moving strains often accompany me as I drive or walk in solitude or return late from a day of demands.

Art thou weary, heavy laden,

Art thou sore distressed?

“Come to me,” saith One, “And coming,

Be at rest.”

Growing weary is the outcome or consequence of many experiences, none of them bad but all of them exhausting. To name just a few...

We can be weary of waiting (Psalm 69:3).

A New Thing

Date:
October 5, 2024

Read Isaiah 43:19

Though I have walked with God for several decades, I must confess I still find much about Him incomprehensible and mysterious. But this much I know: He delights in surprising us.

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