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  1 John 4:1-6 Listen to today’s devotional For Christians, there is a faithful way to test what is true. It's found in 1 John 4 and takes a little prayerful reflection and practice. Our first inclination might be to ask whether something sounds right. That's a decent first step, but let's go a little deeper. Another faithful question to consider in our search for what is true is what kind of life it produces. 1 John 4:1 tells believers to "test the spirits." Now, that might sound like we should be suspicious of everyone. But I'm not sure John is encouraging us to be so cynical. He's encouraging us to be discerning. And the test he offers is centered on Jesus Christ "in the flesh." Incarnation is more than a confessional, theological word. Incarnation is a way of seeing the world. It reminds us that God stepped into our world, our struggles, and our suffering. And we don't just remember that truth became flesh at Christmas. If we claim to fol...

  Philippians 4:10-15 Listen to today’s devotional A lot of Christians know Philippians 4:13. It's a popular verse for posters, Bible bookmarks, t-shirts, home decor, athletes' eye black, and anywhere else someone needs a bit of encouragement to make it through difficult days. It may be, though, that many of us miss an important part of what the apostle Paul wants to express in that verse. Paul's idea is not one of personal empowerment, though there is nothing wrong with that. Instead, Paul is talking about something else many of us struggle with today: Contentment. I appreciate that Paul doesn't suggest contentment comes naturally. He says, "I have learned to be content." That tells me contentment is a spiritual discipline. We often compare our lives to those of others. Or we assume that happiness is a new this-or-that, a promotion, or just a bit of good luck away. As a result, God's goodness depends on whether our circumstances improve. Paul would have h...

  2 Chronicles 20:5-12 Listen to today’s devotional Some places become sacred because of what God has done there or how we have experienced God's grace. There's one detail in today's reading that reminds us of these places. In 2 Chronicles 20, God's people faced an uphill battle against their enemies. What I love about King Jehoshaphat gathering all the people to pray is that he didn't begin with the problem. There wouldn't have been anything wrong with that. And he doesn't ignore what's before them. But he began by remembering who God is and has always been. The text says that Jehoshaphat stood before the new court, presumably the great court where prayers could be offered (2 Chronicles 6). Standing in that new court seemed to focus his attention first on God's faithfulness before he was overwhelmed with the trouble ahead. Maybe you have a place like that. It could be a particular pew in your church or a worn recliner where your Bible rests right be...

  Galatians 5:2-6 Listen to today’s devotional One of our daughters used to ask for a "peanut butter and jelly sandwich," but without the jelly. When I would clarify that she actually just wanted a peanut butter sandwich, she would correct me. She wanted a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, just no jelly. Some things just belong together. Add cheese to the burger and ice cream to the pie, because sometimes more is better. But not with the gospel. In Galatians 5, the apostle Paul addresses a serious addition. Some believers were being told that faith in Christ wasn't enough. They needed Jesus plus circumcision. Jesus plus obedience to certain religious requirements. Paul is clear, though, that Jesus plus something else means that "Christ will be of no benefit to you at all." To be sure, his concern isn't the physical act of circumcision. His concern is where people place their trust. When we start believing that God's acceptance depends on something we ...

  Jeremiah 42:18-22 Listen to today’s devotional Most of us have gone to a doctor's appointment hoping for a simple answer. Actually, we really want an answer that affirms what we have already decided is right. We tell ourselves it's just our allergies. Or it's something that will clear up in a few days. Then we hear results that say something entirely different. Now, imagine telling your doctor, "Thanks for your opinion, but I've decided not to accept your diagnosis." As ridiculous as that sounds, that's pretty much what happens in Jeremiah 42. The people of God asked the prophet Jeremiah to seek God in prayer on their behalf. They promised they would obey whatever God said. See where this is going? They waited ten days while Jeremiah prayed. But when God's answer came, it wasn't what they wanted to hear. So, they didn't do anything Jeremiah instructed them to do. That means their problem wasn't hearing God's voice. How often do we tal...

  Psalm 86:11-13 Listen to today’s devotional I often think about an illustration I once used with a youth Sunday School class. For several weeks, we kept two pictures posted on the wall. One was a classic TV dinner. The other was a chicken pot pie. Whether we were studying Psalm 86 or not, the lesson connected to a truth found in the poem. The psalmist asks God for "an undivided heart," and later says that he gives thanks to God with his “whole heart." When you listen to people talk about their lives, many of us live more like a TV dinner than a pot pie. We have a church self, a work self, a social media self, a political self, and a friend self. Each compartment has its own space, carefully separated from the others. As long as the sections stay divided, everything seems fine. But the faith of the Bible doesn't recognize that kind of life. The psalmist longs for something different. He prays for a heart that is whole, integrated, and fully devoted to God because fa...