Year: 2020
December 2020
- Devotional Isaiah 7: God With Us
Christmas reminds us that God does act to save and deliver his people, even when times seem desperate. While the initial context of Isaiah…
- Devotional Exodus 20:12 – The Fifth Commandment
The Fifth Commandment serves as a bridge between the first four commandments, which deal with obligations to God, and the last five commandments, which…
- Devotional Exodus 20:8-11: The Fourth Commandment
In the Fourth Commandment, the importance of rest and worship is highlighted. God positively reminds us to set aside work and to rest -…
November 2020
- Devotional Exodus 20:7: The Third Commandment
While we tend to think the Third Commandment forbids using God’s names as an expletive, the commandment covers more than that. It reminds us…
- Devotional Exodus 20:4-6: The Second Commandment
God is not local, and certainly cannot be controlled. He is not to be worshiped as we desire, but instead in the way he…
- Devotional Exodus 20:3 – The First Commandment
Idols are much broader than just (literal) religious figures, they are anything which takes the place of God as the highest priority in our…
- Devotional Exodus 20:1-21: The Ten Commandments
The Ten Commandments are laws, yes, but they are so much more. They reveal the standard of morality God requires, and they reveal how…
October 2020
- Devotional Exodus 19:9-25 Preparing for the King
God, the Israelites’ divine King, was coming to visit his people at Sinai. They needed to prepare themselves for his arrival, getting spiritually ready…
- Devotional Exodus 19:1-8: God’s People, God’s Presence, God’s Reign
In this passage, God’s people arrive at Mount Sinai, where God will arrive in all his divine glory. There, the God who chose them…
August 2020
- Devotional Working for Christ – Ecclesiastes 11:1-6
Life is fleeting, all is "vanity" says the author of Ecclesiastes. But this is not an excuse to sit back and do nothing. Ash…
May 2020
- Devotional Exodus 7:8-13: Serpents as Signs
In Exodus, God is acting through Moses and Aaron to free his people from slavery in Egypt. In this passage, Moses and Aaron return…
- Devotional Exodus 7:1-7 – Stubborn Pharaoh, Softened Moses
In our last devotion, we saw God remind Moses of his nature as a promise-keeping God. In Exodus 7:1-7, God reconfirms to Moses his…
- Devotional Exodus 6 – Promise-keeping God
In Exodus 6, we are reminded of how God is trustworthy. God keeps his promises. Responding to the cries of Moses and the Israelites…
- Devotional Exodus 5 – Bricks without straw
Moses’ return to Egypt had gone better than he anticipated, as the Elders and God’s people accepted his message and calling. But Pharaoh had…
- Devotional Exodus 4:18-31 – Returning to Egypt
In Exodus 4:18-31, we see Moses’ faithful response to God’s call in his return to Egypt to rescue God’s people. But before Moses can…
April 2020
- Devotional Exodus 4:1-17 – Powerful Signs
Despite the powerful signs God gave Moses to perform, he still shows extreme reluctance to return to Egypt. In Exodus 4:1-17, we see God…
- Devotional Exodus 3: The Call of Moses
Exodus 3 records the Call of Moses by God, as God appears to Moses at Mount Sinai at the Burning Bush. There Moses encounters…
- Devotional Exodus 2: God Remembers His Covenant
In Exodus Chapter 2 we see God's deliverance, of us through Jesus Christ, foreshadowed in the beginning of God’s delivery of his people from…
- Devotional Exodus 1:8-22 – Oppression of God’s People
The exploitation and enslavement of people, or opposition to progress and blessing, seems to occur quite often to God’s people. As God blesses his…
March 2020
- Devotional Exodus 1:1-7 – According to Plan
The beginning of the book of Exodus makes it very clear that God’s redemptive plan is continuing, and that Exodus continues that story. It…
- Devotional Psalm 41 – God’s love for the righteous and the poor
Psalm 41 describes God’s attitude. God loves the poor, and he loves the righteous who love the poor. This psalm, the last in “Book…
- Devotional Psalm 40 – My Deliverer Then and Now
Psalm 40 speaks very personally of the support that David received from God in his life. The first part of the psalm rejoices in…
- Devotional Psalm 39 – Numbering Our Days
In Psalm 39, King David, perhaps approaching older age, reflects on how short life is. Acknowledging his silent suffering, David speaks out in prayer,…
February 2020
- Devotional Psalm 38 – I Am Sorry For My Sin
Psalm 38 is a song of lament for the suffering caused by sin. The psalmist, David, suffers under God’s discipline for his sins, affecting…
- Devotional Psalm 37 – The Fate of the Wicked and the Righteous
We live in a time in the Western World where it appears that the wicked prosper and the righteous suffer. The vulnerable and oppressed…
- Devotional Psalm 36 – How precious is God’s love
The Bible teaches that fear of God is the true source of wisdom. In Psalm 36, King David picks up this theme and merges…
- Devotional Psalm 35 – Asking God to Fight the Battle
Psalm 35 once again cries out in lament at the unjust evils visited on God’s people. But it also encourages us to give thanks…
January 2020
- Devotional Psalm 34 – Taste and See that God is Good
In Psalm 34. David encourages us to see God’s goodness to his people, and respond accordingly by blessing God, fearing God, and trusting God…
