Scripture: Acts 15:32-33 Judas and Silas, who were themselves prophets, said much to encourage and strengthen the believers. After they had been there for some time, they were sent off in peace by the believers to those who had sent them. Thought for the Day: After the great Council in Jerusalem in which Paul’s ministry to the Gentiles was finally recognized as legitimate by the original Apostles, a
FROM LAST YEAR’S DEVOTIONALS Scripture: Psalm 118:24 This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it. Thought for the Day: Those might be some of the most familiar words found in scripture, and they are spoken in so many different settings. Over the years, I have heard those words offered at weddings, funerals and many rituals of celebration. Depending on
Scripture: Proverbs 6:6-8 Go to the ant, you lazybones; consider its ways, and be wise. Without having any chief or officer or ruler, it prepares its food in summer, and gathers its sustenance in harvest. Thought for the Day: On this day, I hope that no one reading my devotional sees April 15 and says, “Oh my gosh, I haven’t started my taxes.” If that is you, I
Scripture: John 10:3-4 The guard at the gate opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. Whenever he has gathered all of his sheep, he goes before them and they follow him, because they know his voice. Thought for the Day: Yesterday, I wrote about allowing prayer to become the place where God
Scripture: Psalm 25:4-5 Make your ways known to me, LORD; teach me your paths. Lead me in your truth—teach it to me— because you are the God who saves me. I put my hope in you all day long. Thought for the Day: I offer you these two quotes: “The function of prayer is not to influence God, but rather to change the nature of the one
Scripture: Exodus 3:7-8 Then the Lord said, “I have observed the misery of my people who are in Egypt; I have heard their cry on account of their taskmasters. Indeed, I know their sufferings, and I have come down to deliver them from the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land to a good and broad land, a land flowing with milk and honey, to
Scripture: Romans 15:7 Welcome one another, therefore, just as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God. Thought for the Day: Yesterday afternoon, the Greater Houston Area became a better place to live. People from two faith communities — Cypress Creek Christian Church and the Islamic Society of Greater Houston — took a risk and did something that is not done as often as it should. People
Scripture: Job 18:17 Their memory perishes from the earth, and they have no name in the street. Thought for the Day: In the book of Job, the main character (Job) is confronted by three supposed friends who are convinced that Job’s great trouble has come upon him because of some horrible sin he committed. Now the author of the book has made it clear to the audience that
Scripture: Philippians 2:5-8 In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient
Scriptures: Matthew 15:21-22 Jesus left that place and went away to the district of Tyre and Sidon. Just then a Canaanite woman from that region came out and started shouting, “Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David; my daughter is tormented by a demon.” Thought for the Day: The Gospels are simple and complicated at the same time. I know that sounds like foolishness, and it might