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  Joshua 18:1-3 Click here to listen to today’s devotional We were eating our eggs and bacon at a men’s Bible study, reading Joshua 18, when I kept going back to something Joshua asked the people: “How long will you be slack about going in and taking possession of the land that the Lord, the God of your ancestors, has given you?" Remember, Joshua was one of those brave spies in Numbers 13. Back then, he would have been about forty, part of that original group sent to scout the land. Now, he’s an old man. And yet, it doesn't sound like he's softened his passion. He still speaks with urgency and fire. As the leader, he expects that God’s people should step forward into their promise. That means a lot to me in part because I’ve heard the warning several times in my life, “Just wait until you get older.” As if age automatically drains your joy. But I don’t think that’s the way it has to be. I’ve been fortunate to know many older saints who didn’t just get older; they grew olde...

  Psalm 139:13-18 Click here to listen to today’s devotional I can't wait to become a grandparent! Ever since my son and daughter-in-law told us they were expecting, my wife and I have prayed for that young soul every single day. I've prayed for her health, her future, her joy, her friendships, her faith, and the person she'll become. I've thanked God for her many times, even before I ever knew her name. The thing is, she'll have no idea. It will be years before she understands that we were lifting her to God before she knew who we were. She won't understand that there were people celebrating her, hoping for her, and praying over her. As I read Psalm 139 today, I wondered if that's a glimpse of God's heart toward us. The psalmist says of God, "You knit me together in my mother's womb... Your eyes beheld my unformed substance." Before we took our first breath, God already knew us. Before we had words to pray, God was already listening. Befor...

  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...

  Joel 2:28-29 Listen to today’s devotional Walter Brueggemann was a prophetic voice to the modern church. His idea of the "royal consciousness" helps us understand how every empire, every system, and every culture trains people to accept the world as it is. Royal consciousness says, "The pain, the disappointment, even the injustice, it's all normal. Nothing will ever change." And that is the world the ancient prophet Joel speaks into. God's people had experienced devastation. Besides losing the tangible aspect of life, their joy and hope were taken as well. But God promises a restoration that comes when the people return to God with all their heart (Joel 2:12). Much would be restored to the people, and they would also experience the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. The first sign of the Spirit is imagination. Listen again to what Joel says, "Your sons and daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions....

  Psalm 95:1-5 Click here to listen to today's devotional This week, I was asked to lead worship for a small group. Now, I've already told them what I usually say first. I don't sing well. Singing is not something I should be leading other human voices in. Of course, I do sing. I just sing the way a grateful heart sometimes does when it forgets who's listening and remembers who is worthy. While I played my guitar for the group, I couldn't help but sing as I led the song  Great Are You, Lord.  I told the group that we were about to sing one of my favorite lines. I'll make a loud and joyful noise for this one: All the earth will shout your praise Our hearts will cry These bones will say Great are You, Lord That's an image from the prophet Ezekiel. He saw a valley of dry bones with no life or breath. Then, today, I read from Psalm 95. The psalm is a familiar invitation to worship the God who formed the earth and holds the depths of the world in holy hands. Toge...

  Isaiah 60:1-6 Listen to today's devotional There are moments when God does something so good, so unexpected, and so redemptive that it feels like your heart skips ahead of your words. Did you know there's a bidi bidi bom bom moment in the Bible? Selena fans know what that means. It's the sound your heart makes when you're in love. As the prophet Isaiah saw it, it's what your heart does when you're in awe. In Isaiah 60, God's people heard the promise that God's light would shine on them. It would shine so much upon them that nations would come to honor God. They would bring their wealth with them, and the people would see it as a sign of God's blessing. No more would they see exile or know desolation. The Lord would bring prosperity to them. As a result, the prophet says their heart "shall thrill and rejoice." That's not a generic sense of happiness. It is a deep joy that moves your whole being. There's a sense that their heart wou...

  Psalm 146:5-10 Listen to today's devotional There's a kind of happiness the world can't give. As the song says, the world can't take it away from you either. Psalm 146 describes a happiness that doesn't depend on a perfect morning, an easy week, or everything going the way you planned. This happiness is a blessed assurance that you are held by God, who keeps faith forever. The psalm opens with praise and circles back to it at the end. It's like the psalmist knew how easily we can drift. We start with good intentions, but life has a way of distracting us. Our problems get loud. Our worries push their way to the forefront of our lives. Before we realize it, our trust has slipped into whatever feels most accessible right now. That's why the psalmist points us toward praise. Praise doesn't ignore reality; it helps us regain perspective. Praise reminds us of what stays true about God. We can see God again and realize that what frightens us doesn't frigh...

  1 Peter 1:6-9 Listen to today's devotional Joy and grief really can live in the same house. In 1 Peter 1, the apostle doesn’t pretend we’re above life’s pain. Peter never says, “Rejoice instead of suffering,” or “Rejoice once the suffering ends.” He helps us understand what we probably already know to be true: that joy and sorrow often show up at the same time. Many of us feel pressure to choose between the two. If you’re hurting, you wonder if your faith is weak. If you’re hopeful, you wonder if you’re avoiding reality. But the Bible gives you permission to hold both with honesty. Faith isn’t pretending the pain isn't anything less than it is. Instead, faith teaches us to trust God even while the pain is still present. In the Bible, joy isn’t a mood. It’s a deep confidence in who God is and how God stays with us. God is with you, God is working, and God is not done. And grief is not a spiritual failure. It’s the honest acknowledgment that life hurts and losses matter. You do...

  James 1:2-4 Listen to today's devotional Joy is deeper than happiness. Happiness can rise and fall with each day. But joy is rooted in the eternalness of God. So, you can be unhappy and still have joy, because true joy doesn't come from you. It comes from God. And faith teaches us that joy is not dependent on our circumstances. Instead, joy comes from learning to trust in who God is and the promises God makes. That's an important consideration because none of us escapes sorrow or pain in this life. We all face our share of unhappiness and heartbreak. But even in our trials, we still have joy. That doesn't mean God throws calamity on us. God doesn't play games with our suffering. Testing isn't to fail us, but to form us. Testing doesn't expose your weakness to shame you. It reveals your strength to shape you. And as we let it do so, we learn to persevere. So, perseverance isn't sitting on your hands waiting for a trial to pass. Instead, perseverance is ...

  Psalm 94:16-23 Listen to today's devotional I've heard adults say that kids today know too much about anxiety. It feels like the anxiousness of the world is new. It is not. In Psalm 94, the psalmist knows the reality of anxiety. He says that the cares of his heart are many. That feels familiar. We know what it's like to be awake in the middle of the night worrying about what could go wrong. We rehearse every negative scenario and we carry stress so much it carries into every conversation. Faith does not mean those feelings disappear. It means we learn where to take them. Notice what the psalmist trusts, that his many cares are met with God’s consolations. I take “consolations” to speak to the ways God reassures us. It's the promises we read of in scripture, God's presence we experience and the affirmation that we are not alone. Faith is no magic trick and these consolations do not always erase our problems. But they steady us within them. Notice, too, what the psa...

Psalm 48:1-3, 12-14 Listen to today's devotional I'll admit to you that I'm the worst photographer in my family. I've always loved snapping photos, but I walk away with more memories than great shots. Still, I've learned something from the real photographers I know. They don't start by aiming a camera. They start by looking for the light. And since I'm being so honest, I'm only technically a musician. Recently, I was asked to lead worship at this year's Annual Conference. I don't know what they heard about me, but I'm not that kind of musician. All I do is have a little fun with chords and beat on drums. But I do know you start with tuning. Whether it's photography, music or life, how we start matters. I've known people who've had hard starts, emotionally, spiritually or even just a bad start to a day. It can color how you see everything that comes next. It can make you feel like you're always trying to catch up. If that's...

  Psalm 126 Listen to today's devotional I promise you I know how to be serious. I've done it before. But much wiser, more faithful people have taught me a lot of things we tend to call serious aren't. Personally, the first time that lesson sunk in was when someone asked me, "Will you be this angry about it tomorrow? Next week? Next month? Next year? Will you remember it five years from now?" Of course, we are allowed to have our emotions. Still, whether you call it mental energy or emotional currency, I don't want to waste it on things that won't matter. How much of yourself do you have to give to real serious issues if you've already exhausted yourself over things you'll soon forget? So, what do we replace our misguided anger with? We can start with love. John Wesley said, "Those without enough love experience rage, but love drives rage away." But let me offer an additional replacement. Reflecting on Psalm 126 has me wanting to laugh mo...

 There's an entire history to "goodbye." That is, "goodbye" and "bye-bye" didn't develop out of thin air. Over centuries, we've contracted a blessing and promise people often gave each other. God be with you is where we began. How we use and change language over time got us to bubye. No matter how we say it, though, we're expressing a reiterated promise of God found in scripture. God is with us. God promised the people they would not walk alone (Leviticus 26:12). Through the prophet Ezekiel, God said, "My dwelling place shall be with them" (Ezekiel 37:27). Isaiah quotes God, "Don't be afraid, for I am with you" (Isaiah 41:10). The Lord even makes the promise to individuals like Joshua and Gideon. Of course, many of us know and hold onto the promise Jesus gave: I am with you always (Matthew 28:20). There's no defining God and speaking of God without mentioning God's presence. Yes, we could only talk about God...

  Nehemiah 1:1-11 Nehemiah 8:10 is an important verse for me. You may remember Nehemiah's words to the people as they wept: The joy of the Lord is your strength. That was his response as the people mourned their sin. They had just heard from God's word. And there were those who explained what they heard. The people, then, knew they had transgressed. So, they wept. Nehemiah, though, shifted their sorrow. I've long since traded my sorrow for God's joy. It's the reason I'm annoyingly hopeful and cheerful. Some might say joy is the only thing I take seriously. I'd be okay with that. Just know the joy of the Lord isn't superficial. It's not an escape from what is really happening in the world. Joy is the conviction of God's goodness despite life's cruelty. Nehemiah wasn't asking the people to forget their sorrow. He was showing them how to hold it in perspective. Remember this: the scene where Nehemiah shares that encouragement started somepla...