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  Listen to today’s devotional Matthew 13:24-30 Years ago, when Gloria and I were first married, we started visiting a church. One Sunday, I sat beside a woman whose purse was between her and me on the pew. Partway through the service, I watched her discreetly move it to her other side. Believe it or not, that was the last time we went to that church. I remember feeling that she had taken one look at me and decided everything she needed to know. Instead of being angry about it, I've learned to use that memory to reflect on how often I’ve done that. Jesus tells a story about wheat growing alongside weeds. The servants see the weeds and immediately want to pull them up. The farmer says no because, in their hurry, they might take out the wheat, too. Of course, he sees what they see, but he also sees the harm their quick solution could cause. I understand the servants. When something is wrong, I want to do something about it now. When I watch the news or worry about someone I love, I s...

  Listen to today’s devotional A Prayer in the Wind October 1, 2026 Matthew 14:22-33 Fear is a storyteller, but it isn’t always a truthful one. Give it one bad possibility, and it will fill in the rest. Once, Jesus told his disciples to cross the lake. So, they got into a boat and went. As they were going, the wind rose against them. During their struggle, sometime before the morning, they saw someone walking toward them on the water. It was Jesus. But their fear took one look at him and called him a ghost. They eventually recognize Jesus, and Peter asks him to call him out onto the water with him. So, Jesus did. And Peter walked on water toward Jesus. We tend to remember what happened next. Peter noticed the wind and began to sink. But before he sank, remember that he walked on water first. As he started to sink, he cried, “Lord, save me!” Jesus reached out and caught him. Before that, Peter and the others had cried out because they thought Jesus was a ghost. Now Peter was afraid ...

  Listen to today’s devotional Fortune Cookies & Faith September 30, 2026 Luke 6:20-26 I don’t think I’ve ever finished a fortune cookie. Normally, I crack it open, pull out the little paper, eat half, and leave the rest on the plate. I’m there for the fortune, not the cookie. Lately, though, even the fortunes have been disappointing. After three plates of shrimp fried rice, I don’t need a tiny piece of paper telling me to exercise more. Sometimes, I think we want Jesus’ words to work like that little slip of paper. Something pleasant to read before we get on with our day. So, when Jesus says, “Blessed are you,” in Luke 6, we like that. But let's remember that he’s looking at people who are poor, hungry, grieving, and pushed aside. People who have heard plenty of reasons they aren't blessed. Jesus looks them in the eye and says they are. Imagine hearing that when the world has been telling you otherwise. But Jesus doesn't stop with the encouraging stuff. He then says, “...

  Listen to today’s devotional Before You Forget September 29, 2026 James 5:13-16 I can't count the times someone has said to me, “Please keep me in your prayers.” Early on, I had to learn to focus myself so I would mean it when I said, "I will." Of course, I was going to pray for them. But then we finished talking. My phone rang. I remembered something else I needed to do. By evening, I couldn't quite remember what I promised to pray about. I thought about this while looking at a church prayer list. We're pretty good at lists, for sure. We collect names, print them, email them, and add new names on Sunday morning. That can be a beautiful way to remember people. But a prayer list can also just be a list. James tells the church to “Pray for one another.” He expects us to bring our lives before God together. As much as we might want to do that, I wonder if sometimes we hesitate because we think prayer needs to sound a certain way. We have to learn the right words, h...

  Listen to today’s devotional Recess is Almost Over September 28, 2026 Matthew 11:16-19 I used to be a substitute teacher, and, from time to time, I would fill in for one of the coaches. One Friday, I saw a group of kids trying to figure out what to do on their free day. Football, soccer, basketball, tag, or dodgeball were the main choices. To me, that all sounds like a fun day in elementary school. Their problem was that they couldn't decide. They argued so long about what to play that nobody really got a chance to play anything before time ran out. Jesus describes something like that in the marketplace. One group of kids says, "Let's play wedding!" The other group doesn't want to dance. "Fine, let's play funeral." They refuse to mourn. So, nobody joins in, and the game never even begins. Of course, Jesus isn't really talking about children. John the Baptist came with a hard message and a unique way of living. People said he had a demon. Jesus ...

  Listen to today’s devotional Matthew 11:28-30 It's been a couple of months since we moved. And, if you haven't moved in a while, let me tell you that you can live in a house and still not know where all the light switches are. I know I've moved. I see the proof all around me. Still, every once in a while, I pull up to H-E-B and am surprised it doesn't look like my old store. I've woken up a couple of times and needed a second to remember where I was. Moving is more than a new address. Moving also means learning a new rhythm. I wonder if that’s part of what Jesus means when he says, “Come to me,” and then, “Learn from me.” When we talk about Jesus offering us rest, we think that means a chance to stop for a while. To be sure, that's exactly what we need sometimes. But Jesus is offering more than a break before we return to the same exhausting pace. The Lord invites us to learn another way to live. And that takes practice. Jesus says his yoke is easy and his bur...

  Listen to today’s devotional James 4:11-12 “Do not speak evil against one another” is hard when they give us so many good reasons. Some people make it very easy to remember and rehearse what they did wrong. Have you ever replayed a conversation over and over, thinking about what you should have said? Then you tell somebody else what happened, and somehow the story gets a little better every time you tell it. At least, your part does. James knows we will have problems with one another. He is writing to people who share a faith and still struggle to share a life. So he does not say, “Never talk about it.” He says, “Do not speak evil against one another.” There is a difference. I may need to tell someone that I was hurt, or speak the truth. I may need help deciding what to do next. But as I do, I can also frame things the way I want because I want someone else to think less of the other person. I can choose the details that make them look their worst. I can say their name with a cer...